Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - The Peace of Releasing the Wheel - #6178

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Ah, give me a break. It's not like I'm the only man in the world with this control thing. It must be part of our wiring to be in control, huh? Like driving for example. If you've got four guys traveling together, you usually have four people who want to drive, but that makes the front seat awfully crowded. When a family's going on a long trip, many men make it very clear, "I'll drive." I'm one of those guys who really doesn't like to ride. I like to drive. But a while back, I learned a valuable lesson about this "must drive" neurosis. We had an all-day trip ahead of us and I had a full day of preparation for speaking and radio programs. I find that's hard to do with a steering wheel in your hand, which is a habit the the National Safety Council recommends. So my wife drove the whole trip while I buried myself in my work. Man, did I get a lot done!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Peace of Releasing the Wheel."

I learned a lesson that day that I've applied to a number of other trips. You get so much more done when someone else is driving. Great things happen when you finally let go of the wheel and let someone else take it. Especially if the someone else is the One who was supposed to be driving all along. The God who gave you your life is supposed to be driving your life.

But we'd rather do the driving ourselves. Oh, sure, we don't mind having God as a passenger in our life. It's nice to have Him along. Just so long as He doesn't have the wheel. And me driving the life that God gave me is exactly what the Bible means when it talks about our "sin" - me driving when God was supposed to be. Taking my life where I want it to go instead of where He created it to go. Doing what I feel like doing with my life instead of living as I was made to live. If you're wondering why you never seem to get to the destination you've been looking for, if you're wondering why you feel lost, why there have been costly crashes, it's because the wrong person is driving.

Here's how the Bible describes how we get lost and then stuck on a road that's going nowhere. It's in Isaiah 53:6 , our word for today from the Word of God. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way." Turning to our own way means we are literally turning our back to God, the author of our life. The issue of control now becomes a life-or-death issue. Because if we insist on driving, our life will inevitably go over the cliff into an awful eternity without God, all because we had to be in control - because we had to drive.

Thank God, He did what it took to make it possible for us to turn around. To be forgiven instead of condemned. To go to heaven instead of hell. That Bible verse about us going our own way concludes with God's loving answer: "The Lord has laid on Him (that's Jesus) the iniquity (or wrongdoing) of us all." The verse before it tells what it took for us to have a chance to live instead of die: "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him." That day Jesus allowed them to hang Him on a cross, He was absorbing all the punishment for all the sinning that you've ever done. That's how much He loves you.

And now you have an opportunity to have every sin of your life erased from God's book, and trade hell for heaven. Jesus comes into your life when you tell Him, as a recent hit song says, "Jesus, take the wheel." You put your trust in Him because He gave His life for you. And He doesn't ride - He drives. It's time to give Him the wheel.

I would love to have the opportunity to help you begin this life-changing relationship with Jesus. If you'll just come by our website where I've laid out a brief, non-religious explanation of how you can belong to Him. Just go to yoursforlife.net. Or call - for my little booklet, "Yours For Life." It's a toll free call - it's 877-741-1200.

You've been driving long enough. Will you let Jesus drive from here on. You'll have this wonderful peace, you'll go where you were created to go, and your final destination - it will be awesome.