Give Jesus Christ the Wheel

By Alexandra Copeland  

1 John 1:9 (ESV) is truly a beautiful verse. It says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Many people are suffering today because they haven’t taken and received into their hearts this matchless gift of forgiveness that God offers. They don’t accept it because they have refused to humble themselves before Him. Heavenly Father loves a humble heart. It’s one of His favorite things. Proverbs 22:4 tells us that He rewards humility and reverence with riches and honor. One of the reasons that humility is important is because it paves the way for repentance, and repentance is non-negotiable when it comes to the Christian life. It begs us to come face to face with the reality that we’re works in progress. We come to God as we are, but we will not remain that way. He tells us in Romans 12:2 that we must be transformed into the people that He has called us to be.

We live in a society where many people are like the walking dead. 2Corinthians 4:4(NLT) tells us that the god of this world, satan, has blinded them. It also says, “They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” Because many people don’t see the light, they either don’t understand or refuse to accept that God is in total control, and that nothing slips by Him. They won’t acknowledge the truth of this reality, but instead will endeavor to carve out their own agendas. Not the best idea.  Proverbs 14:12 warns, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.” Without following the leadership and guidance of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we’re bound to lose out. Many people find this out the hard way, including some Christians. When their agendas don’t work out, they are often very hurt and sometimes devastatingly disappointed. Christians that have suffered tremendous setbacks will believe that God either punished them or did not help them. Neither is true.

In Jeremiah 29:11, God tells us that He has a good plan for us, and it is to give us hope and a good future. We have such a ‘results on the double’ culture that we want everything right now, and we want it our way. God isn’t obliged to comply with our rules. He’s the Father. He’s the Creator. He’s the one in control. Proverbs 19:21 (NLT) pulls back all the layers and gets right down to the reality of all there is. It says, “You can make many plans, but the LORD's purpose will prevail.”  We can think we’ve got it going on or that our agenda should take center stage, but the bottom line is that God has given us a destiny. We have a charge to keep and a calling to fulfill. Life will continue to cycle back lesson after lesson. This is what God designed life to do. These lessons teach us who we are and will make it clear exactly why we’re here.  They will continually become more challenging if we ignore them, and we will totally miss out if we do not learn our lessons well.

Talk about surrender, this is it. Surrendering to the Will of God is what all sons and daughters of the Kingdom must do, but sometimes we get it twisted. People can be in the worse situations of their lives and say that they’re in this condition because it is God’s Will. 1John 1:5 tells us that God is light, and there’s no darkness in Him at all. This is the glorious good news that satan wants hidden. This is why the devil blinds the hearts and minds of people; so, that they will believe that God causes them to be hurt, sad, sick, and confused. Those are not conditions of hope. They are conditions of darkness, and the devil causes them.

If a person believes this way, they are not surrendering to the Will of God, but to the will of satan. It is surrendering to wrong believing, which is no better than being blind like the unbelieving world. God wants us to be set free, and this is exactly what the truth does; it makes us free (John 8:32). The key that unlocks the door to truly surrendering to the Will of God is truth. We cannot be made free by a lie; believing a lie will keep a person in bondage. This is not what God wants for us. He has made a way through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for us to walk in liberty with faith and confidence, completely free of fear and condemnation.

A person said recently that he could never be a Christian because he doesn’t want to be boxed in and live a limited life. He’s been around quite a few Christians, and this is the impression he has gleaned. The Christian life is so extraordinary that it is very difficult for me to imagine anyone not wanting to experience the bounty that God offers us through Christ. Heavenly Father has given us the gift of free-will, and His love is so powerful that despite our screw-ups and neglect, Romans 8:28 declares that He will still cause things to work out for our good. How awesome is He?!!!  

There are many Christian soldiers that are leaving God’s mission because they think the world is more exciting, or they have allowed themselves to become burnt out for whatever reason. Come back to God. Do yourself the greatest favor ever and give Him a chance to transport your life to a new level. You haven’t even scratched the surface of what He has in store for you. No matter what is going on in your life, no matter how you feel, God has everything under control. Life is doing what it’s designed to do. It’s teaching us how to be like Christ, and how to get closer to the Father. Seize this opportunity to get on board with the Will of God, and you will witness what happens when you put faith and love in the driver’s seat and give Jesus Christ the wheel. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.