Two Hands on the Wheel

It was raining rather heavily as I drove home from work the other day. I know it's not 'proper' technique but I'm a usual one-handed driver. It's most comfortable to me. But every now and again when it is raining really bad, I get a nervousness in my stomach that prompts the need to put both hands on the wheel... in preparation for the unknown. To have better control when I need it. Today was one of those times when I needed that extra security. I had to put both hands on the wheel.

I, also get distracted like most anyone else while driving, and sometimes get a little too familiar when on my regularly traveled paths. Too at ease. As I latched onto the steering wheel this time for some reason, I noticed a shift.

My focus on my immediate situation & the requirements of it, re-aligned.
I felt more aware... more in control.

I don't know about you but everyday things like this, often point me to a deeper truth about life as a whole. So as I took notice of this enhancement of my awareness, I began to wonder how this concept of 'putting both hands on the wheel', applied on a larger spectrum... and what affect such heightening, could likewise have on my life in general. 

What I Discovered 

 

What I discovered, was that most of us get familiar, like I do driving, in many areas of life. And that familiarity can sometimes cause us to be careless & out of tune with the gravity of what we're trying to accomplish. This naturally leads to ineffectiveness, poor motivation, & obviously, less than ideal progress toward our goals. Really, what it boils down to, is that our commitment is not where it should be. We're partially invested. We wouldn't dare trust our hard earned money to people that we observed to be half-hearted about bringing us a solid return, would we? So why do we do the same in areas of our own lives, half commit? After all, our life itself is an investment in the lives of those around us. It doesn't matter how selfish a person is, no one lives solely for themselves. No one. Whether we realize it or not, our lives have impact beyond us. Don't they deserve for us to have both hands on the wheel?  

Even Greats Re-focus
 

In scripture we have many examples of people, just like you and me, who had these same moments to re-commitment, to re-align, & re-invest themselves. I think of guys like Isaiah who said 'woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips' when he found himself face to face with the one he thought he knew, only to now recognize that He is even greater & deserves even more respect than Isaiah had once thought. Or Jonah, who after first running,in the end, realized that following God was what he signed on to do to begin with & that calling others closer to Him is the whole point of that. How about Peter , who in the midst of a routine trip across a sea, something he would have done many times before as a fisherman, finds himself unsure about his current position in life, re-aligning by asking to do something even more improbable, walking on water. And then there is Jesus himself... He encountered his moment to conquer the mundane prior to his arrest, when he prayed in the garden. Life was what it was. He had launched a movement that not only challenged traditional thinking but that also provided answers to combat it. He'd attracted a following that social media of today can never compete with. In fact His followers are STILL increasing in count today! Yet, when it came to moving to the next level in his life purpose, he had to pray ,multiple times, in order to get his feet to be aimed in the same direction as his heart. All of these men were on personally familiar roads. Comfortable paths.

 

Getting Uncomfortable

These people all did what we're talking about here. In the crucial, uneasy moments of their lives, when they could have just kept doing the same old thing because they were used to it...they chose, instead, to put two hands in the wheel... To allow their focus concerning their life to be re-synced with the purpose of the one who called them.

 

They re-aligned their thoughts & actions towards

what mattered most. At that very moment.

  
Friends, your life and the lives around you, deserve your full commitment. They deserve your focus and dedication regardless of how comfortable the road has become to you. My aim is to get uncomfortable enough in this sometimes unfavorable weather of life, to the point that it causes me to put both hands on the wheel. To prepare for the unknown. Because at any moment I could hit a slick spot that spins me out of control. Or maybe even worse, the person in the 'life lane' next to me might loose control and collide with me in the process. 

 

What about you? Have you ever gotten too comfortable? If so, how did you re-align with your ultimate purpose?

Hopefully this helps the growth within, come out

Rodney

References: Isaiah 6, Jonah 2, Matthew 14 & 26