Backseat drivers are one of our most "cherished" institutions. They're the objects of comedians' jokes, the subject of good-natured dinner conversations, and the dread of every first-year teenage driver. But there is also a darker side to the backseat driver: They feel the need to be in control. We (and we're all guilty at times) don't think anyone can drive a car (or load the dishwasher, or mow the grass, or change the baby's diaper) as well as we can. But the place where backseat driving takes its most serious turn is not on the freeway leading into the city but on the road leading to the Kingdom of God. It's when we try to tell God how to lead and direct our lives that backseat driving can become a serious impediment to an abundant and spiritually successful life.

Here are the truths we should be learning and affirming daily that will keep us from becoming backseat drivers to God on the days life gets dangerous:

1. Remember Who Knows the Best Route
   
   When God rescued the children of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt, He did something which no doubt appeared very peculiar at the time. All the Israelites had to do was head east around the curve of the Mediterranean Sea and they would be home free. But Exodus 13:17-18 says God did not lead them by the short route, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt." The short route went right through "the land of the Philistines," and God knew the Israelites would have retreated to Egypt in fear if they encountered these seafaring warriors. So He led them through the desert—and we have no evidence that God ever explained His actions until Moses wrote the Book of Exodus.

   Have you learned that the path God chooses for you is the best one—even if He doesn't explain why?

2. Remember Who Has Been Down This Road Before
   The Book of Hebrews tells us that everything you and I experience in life has first been experienced by Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15). He has been down every road we will go down. He has crested every hill, rounded every bend, and peered through every dark valley. In fact, we are told that, "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8).

   If Jesus stayed obediently on every road the Father sent Him down, can He not help you learn obedience on similar roads?

3. Remember Who Has Never Been Lost
   On the night before Jesus' crucifixion He said to His Father, "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do" (John 17:4). Jesus was sent into the world for a purpose (Mark 10:45; John 20:21; I John 3:8), and He never got lost along the way. In spite of severe obstacles, He reached His destination—the cross of Calvary.

   Could not One with such singular focus guide you when you feel lost?

4. Remember Who Has the Perfect Driving Record
   All of God's work is perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4); His way is perfect (II Samuel 22:31); His knowledge is perfect (Job 37:16)—indeed, God Himself is perfect (Hebrews 4:15b). Never—not even once in the infinity of His existence—has God made a mistake or taken a wrong turn in the universe. And He will not mar that perfect record when guiding you.

Do you really believe you are going to be the person with whom God makes His first wrong turn?

God is always following us, offering His perfect and all-knowing words of direction and correction. Let's keep Him where He belongs—in the driver's seat.

This article was excerpted from Turning Points, Dr. David Jeremiah's Devotional Magazine. Call Turning Point at 1-800-947-1993 for your complimentary copy of Turning Points.