After my junior year in high school, I spent the summer teaching
sixth grade Bible class every morning at a summer camp. (I spent the afternoons
and evenings much less glamorously washing dishes. Lots of dishes. All the
dishes.) I remember almost nothing I taught (I hope the kids don’t either – I was
so young in my faith), but there is one lesson that sticks in my mind.
In a fully unfortunate illustration that likened our need
for salvation to a toll booth (please remember how young I was), I explained
that if Jesus was in the passenger seat, He could pay the toll. THE PASSENGER
SEAT!
 |
| Photo credit: Flickr user Nicholas A Tonelli |
I remember it so clearly because some time later I realized
how completely wrong I was! If anyone in the room was not a sixth grader, they
probably would have called me out for the passenger seat illustration (to
which, I would hopefully have said something witty about how it was actually a
British car). In all seriousness, I have prayed that those kids would all
forget all of my teaching. Who knows what else I said?!
Why would I put Jesus in the passenger seat in that illustration?
Because I like control. Because life was all about me, and I was really glad I
had found Jesus and invited Him along for the ride. I like my own way; I want
to drive that metaphorical life-car. And as a young Christian not fluent in
Christian-ese, I didn’t realize how passenger-Jesus revealed all of my selfishness,
control issues and lack of surrender.
My plan was to figure out how I could best succeed at
life, and then invite Jesus along, hoping to please Him with my efforts. I had
a lot to learn about God’s grace and sovereignty.
Unfortunately, I learned words like “seeking His will,”
and “God is calling me…” far before I understood how to listen for the Spirit,
how to hear Him. I learned to hide my messy heart, instead of learning to hear
His voice. I realized how incorrect my statement was about putting Jesus in the
passenger seat before I learned how to let Him have control of my life.
I had no idea how to listen to God, no idea how to hear
and feel the stirrings of the Holy Spirit.
No idea how to follow.
Oceans is a familiar worship song at Encounter. “You call
me out upon the waters, the great unknown, where feet may fail…” Those lyrics
really seem to resonate with us. My heart knows that following where God calls
is right and good, and I want it to do it. But even as I sing, I sometimes
struggle to know confidently to what or how God is calling me. You too? If we’re
being honest, most of us should probably be singing something more like, “I
like to swim, so I go running into the water; where are you when the waves
crash me into the rocky shore?”
This week Pastor Dirk shared from 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 that
we sometimes struggle to hear God because, if we’re honest, we aren’t very good
at listening. When we are considering our plans, our ideas, what to do when
faced with a choice and whether it will bring glory, comfort or presumed
happiness to us, we may be “listening” to a mute idol. If we listen for God,
His direction will always lead us to choices that declare that Jesus is Lord.
When we feel a nudge to do something or not to do
something, how do we know if it’s Him? If we are being nudged into something
that will declare His glory, that will proclaim “Jesus is Lord!” we know it’s
Him. If we are being nudged toward things that don’t elevate us, but that
elevate our God, if the outcome will deflect praise and glory back to Him, we
can be sure that nudge is the Holy Spirit moving us toward God’s glory.
He is a good and gracious God – He did not let me stay so
wrong, so alone, attempting to bring success and glory to myself instead of Him.
God got all up in my business and showed me that He had
been driving all along (those stories are too long for this blog…maybe I’ll
share them another time). He’s driving me to places I wouldn’t even dream of,
inviting me to do things I wouldn’t know to ask for.
When I operate in my own strength, my successes reflect
my glory. When I operate in God’s strength, He gets the glory, and I get to
enjoy the ride. He invites me to rely on His power to do things I’m not capable
of. (Like this! I’m a science teacher – beakers and white boards are far more
comfortable than words - writing is not my jam on my own!) He has called us to
places where our feet fail, because He is strong enough to un-fail them!
I’m learning to hear His voice. Our God is not a mute
idol; He calls. And when we follow, we will find Him.
[Robin Bupp is married to Caleb, and they are from many places east of the Mississippi (but are calling Michigan home for the foreseeable future). A former high school science teacher, Robin is slowly turning the two Bupp kiddos into tiny nerds while they teach her lots of things, especially humility and patience.]
No comments:
Post a Comment