The Road Test

If your like me and have taught three kids to drive you will get this. If you have kid(s) that you will be teaching soon then remember this story LOL.  I remember teaching my kids to drive and to tell you it was a real adventure for sure. The truth is it tested my patience, understanding and anger management. You see they braked hard and thought they were taking off in a NASCAR race. I remember thinking yea they still need more time in the Church or School parking lot.
I remember on time we were driving down a busy highway and I had to reach out to crab the wheel to preserve life, limb, and of course the paint job of the car. As we drove around I learned a great lesson and that was when to say and do nothing. The only way they would learn to drive was for them to do it themselves. You see they were going to have to learn from mistakes and the handling of the car would be less than comfortable in my standards but learning would take place and that was the goal.
Through all this I begin to understand and see how the Lord moves in our lives, or doesn’t. Just as I sat next to my girls as they learned to drive, you see Jesus is always with us. Jesus tells us this in Mathew 28:20 “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Our Father will always be with us and come to our aid when we need him. Here is the thing though we just can’t call on him when we need something we have to always be in contact with him. Just as my kids were with me while learning to drive. They were always asking me questions not just when they were in trouble. However, I do believe that they are times He will simply do nothing and say nothing. How else can we learn? Just as sometimes allowed my kids to think about the questions because I needed them to learn and for me not to always give them the answer.
We have no money to pay the bills. We don’t like our jobs, or worse we can't find one. Our relationships at home more resemble a battle zone than a family. Persecution breaks out all over the place, and the devil hits our weak spots so hard we can't hardly think straight let alone live straight. It feels like our lives are out of control. Then we start thinking that Jesus has abandoned us, but we know He promised he would never do that. He's simply doing nothing and saying nothing so that we can learn and grow. Our faith is being "road tested." If things get too out of hand, He can, and will, take the wheel. But in the meantime, we need to find that joy that James wrote about. “ James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  Because in the end we will be those people "lacking nothing."