Jesus, Take the Wheel

“When we consider how hardmouthed we are, it is a wonder that we are not driven with a sharper bit.” – C.H. Spurgeon

When I was a kid, our family lived in a house on a street that sloped from top to bottom. Since our Dutch Colonial was the second house from the top, the rest of the street ran downhill a good ways.

Normally, that incline only affected us when we were playing kickball, ball tag, or “Baby in the Air.” A well-kicked ball – or a poorly thrown one – could roll all the way to the bottom of the street as long as it didn’t hit a parked car first.

Best of all, whenever it snowed, we had our own built-in sledding hill. Starting at our house, we could board our wooden Flexible Flyers and sled past the Hettinger’s house on the right as well as the McCloskeys, the Evauls, and the Morrisseys on the left before bottoming out somewhere between the Kenneys and the Hammonds in the next block.

Those durable sleds were pretty simple to maneuver. Laying on your stomach, you simply pulled on the cross piece at the top with your left hand to go left and with your right hand to go right. Do it correctly and you made it across Somerset Avenue. Do it wrong and you slammed into a snowbank on the side of the road.

In a broader sense, that simple description of how to steer a sled applies to our life on earth. When we follow God’s commands, we usually make it to the bottom of the hill unscathed. However, there are times in all of our lives when we think we know better than God and off we go, crashing into a spiritual snowbank… or two.

In 2005, country singer Carrie Underwood recorded a song titled, “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” The chorus goes like this…

Jesus, take the wheel
Take it from my hands
'Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
And save me from this road I'm on
Jesus, take the wheel

Speaking from personal experience, the same goes for sleds!

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President