22
Dec '18
Autonomous Faith
22
Dec '18
We’ve all most likely heard the song by Carrie Underwood – “Jesus Take the Wheel”. In this song she sings about giving control to Jesus and letting Him take over in her life. I was recently driving on a busy local highway and had a thought as I watched the cars zig-zagging in and out of the lanes in front of me. I thought, “How may I feel someday when I first get into an autonomous vehicle?”. Have you entertained this idea/thought before? It’s absolutely coming. No driver, just a big piece of metal with cushy seats in it, and a lot of sensors to be able to sense anything that is near it, while you just hope and pray that it doesn’t touch any of those things. Yikes!
I work for a company that makes prototypes and tests the safety and reliability of autonomous vehicles. I’m very interested and enjoy watching the progress that is made and I try to keep up on any news articles that are written about this new and upcoming technology. Although it’s still a few years away, high-automation vehicles (where no driver-assist is needed) should be on the market within the next 10 years. I’ve often thought how I will feel the first time I get into an autonomous vehicle. I’m sure excitement is one of the words, but nervous, anxious, and maybe a little scared might also be words that may describe how I’ll feel. Have you ever felt those same feelings when you feel like letting God take over your life? There’s definitely some similarities here – let me explain.
When talking about autonomous driving, there are 5 levels of vehicles from past, present to future:
Level 0 (no automation) is in our past – it’s the cars of the past that had no automation at all (think 1970’s and prior vehicles).
Level 1 (driver assistance) is a car that has some automation present (think cruise control, lane assist, parking assist, etc) – that’s the level we’re at with most vehicles today. I think Level 1 is where many of us like to be in our relationship with God. Note, I didn’t say this is where we should be – I said this is where many of us like to be. We like to be the one in control, while letting God tend to small aspects of our lives.
Level 2 (partial automation) is also a car of the current day, however, it’s the more higher end/premium vehicles that fit this category. They can sense the speed of the car ahead and make adjustments with speed and braking and can maneuver in traffic jams with acceleration, deceleration and braking. I think many of us like this stage with God too. We give him a bit more reign in our lives, but are still mostly (and comfortably) in control.
Level 3 (conditional automation – which should be available in just a couple of years) is where the driver can do other things, but needs to be ready in the driver seat to assist in a fail-safe environment. If something goes wrong, the driver will be there to take over. Does this sound familiar? Some of us are here as well when it comes to God. This is where most of the time we trust God. We may even feel like we fully trust Him in this stage, and feel like we’re doing pretty well with it. God will make a promise to us (example: Abram [Abraham] & Sarai [Sarah]), we then believe the promise and trust, but instead of being patient and waiting for God to fulfill His promise to us, we feel like we need to be ready to assist (and in the case of Abram & Sarai – with Haggar, they assisted!). Level 3 is probably where many Christians are – pretty close to trusting God – but not fully. We like to jump in and “assist” and “help” God out. As I like to say to myself “Quit playing God!”
Level 4 (high automation – which will be available for cars in less than 10 years) is where cars are fully automated (no driver assist needed) except in extreme weather conditions. This is kind of like when everything is going good in our life, we feel we’re trusting God, we feel He’s allowing things in our lives go really well, and we feel like things are going so smoothly – but then something happens and things get messy and sloppy (icy roads, snow), and we feel like we have to assist and take things back. (Woah! I need to control this!! How can I fix this? Note: We can’t! We just make it worse!)
Then we come to the highest level of autonomous vehicles:
Level 5 (full automation – and in vehicle speak, this availability is still TBD!). This is the place where we are able to fully allow the vehicle to drive us in ANY situation – ice, snow, rain, storm, etc. Does this sound almost impossible? This is the time where the vehicle basically turns into a chauffeur.
Sounds a little scary, huh? What about giving Jesus that power in your life? Yes, this is the level where we need to be with Christ – fully and wholeheartedly giving Jesus the reigns of our life in every situation. This is when we no longer have to keep our “eyes on the road”, nor do we have to press the brake pedal to stop the car. This is when we just leave everything up to the Lord and trust that He is going to take care of every single thing for us without us even questioning if He’s going to do it – because we know He will. Is it hard at times? Absolutely! Especially when we have been at level 2, 3 or 4 for so long thinking that was enough.
“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence”. (Jeremiah 17:7 NLT)
When we fully start trusting and fully realize the magnitude of what God has laid out for us and the purpose He has for our life, I think that is when excitement starts to take over. We can surely imagine how we may initially feel when getting into that Level 5 autonomous vehicle for the first time, and giving complete control to the car and the manufacturer, and the people who designed all of the systems. Yes, it’s a bit scary. But it’s worth it! Once the trust is established, and there’s no need to worry or want to take back the reigns again to “assist”, it’s then that we’ll find such peace and contentment on our journey. So, why don’t we just do the same with God? He is always trustworthy and He is always faithful. We can trust Him to do so much more in our life than we could ever do while “assisting” Him. God has such blessings ahead for all of us if we just let go of our life and let Him have full control of it. We all want to find our purpose, don’t we? Give it all to Him. Are you ready for Level 5?! Leave it up to Him, sit in the backseat and trust? He promises to get you to your destination.
David assures us in Psalm 33:4 NLT – “For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything He does”.
When it comes to your trust and relationship with God, which level would you say you’re at now, and why? What level would you like to be?
BLOG AUDIO
*Dena*
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Powerful message! As I read, I kept thinking about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion. He pleaded with His Father for a different option – and He had EVERY RIGHT to choose a different plan – but instead He gave up control and was obedient.
Paul summarized this way: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:5-8 (NASB)
Ron – so true. Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice and completely surrendered to God’s plan. It’s so easy to “write in a blog”, but I can’t imagine how that could feel in real life – but Jesus did. He was the perfect role model for relinquishing control and giving full trust in God’s choice.
I’m glad this message spoke to you, and I appreciate you adding this comment and the verse in Philippians.
Dena