After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. (Genesis 13:14-15)
Taking your hands off the steering wheel while driving down a highway at 120 km/hour is an insane thing to do… unless you know that there is a second set of controls on the passenger side of the vehicle and sitting there is a driver who is ready and able to drive your car far better than you could ever hope to do.
This is the dilemma you and I face in our one and only human life. God gives us our life and lets us drive it. But God also invites us to let Him have control of the steering wheel of our life so He can drive it in a new direction down a highway that will be far better than any road we could possibly choose for ourselves. The question is, will we do it? Will we take our hands off the steering wheel of our own lives and let God drive? Before that question can be answered, the issue that keeps us from saying “Yes” to the question needs to be addressed.
The reason that we do not take our hands off the steering wheel of our own lives is because we think that we are the only ones who will truly defend our interests. And then we measure the defense of our best interests by material benefits that come to us.
However, the truth is that material benefits are not always in our best interests. In Genesis 13, we read how Abram let his nephew Lot choose between the fertile plan of the Jordan Valley and the dry hills of Canaan. What Abram was doing was taking his hands off the steering wheel of his life and allowing God to choose what was best for him by working through Lot.
Lot chose what he thought would be most beneficial to him materially, living in the fertile plain, and he ended up getting extremely wicked neighbors “…who constantly sinned against the Lord” (Gen. 13:13).
Abram was left with the dry, dusty hills of Canaan, but he also received the blessing of knowing that those dry, dusty hills were God’s gift to him and this would be the land where God would fulfill His promise to Abram of countless descendants: the Blessing People who would be a blessing to the whole world.
It was in this land and through these people that God brought forth the Messiah, the God-human Jesus who crushed evil and ransomed people from all nations to restore them to God and graft them into the Blessing People so all families throughout the world could be blessed.
Letting God choose for us can be a scary thought, until we remember what God has already chosen for us. Through His Son, Jesus, God has chosen to love us, to save us from everlasting condemnation, to guide us in a new and glorious life with Him where we bask in His infinite love and unconditional acceptance every day.
God has already chosen what is best for us in areas of life where we were helpless. Let us trust Him to do the same in areas of life where we have a choice and let God choose what is best for us. By the measures that truly count, God’s choices will bring us good things that will be beyond anything we can ask or imagine.
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for bringing me into Your family of Blessing People through Your Son, Jesus. Help me to grow in trusting that You and Your good choices are what is best for me. In Jesus’ precious Name I ask this. Amen.
Farewell to Shadowlands 