October Newsletter

RIDING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT

Charles is the taxi driver that we call when we want to go places in Kigali. About once a month I find myself in his cab heading to Bible study, book club, a restaurant or a friend’s house. The roads in Kigali are always crowded with pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles, cars and trucks; and Charles always seems to be in a hurry. At first, if I was the “lucky” one in the front seat, I would be tense the entire ride just waiting for the sound of bones crunching or of metal scraping. I would often have to resist the urge to yank at the steering wheel or yell out warnings. However, Charles always manages to avoid any serious mishap. I’ve come to believe in his driving abilities. Even if my eyes tell me that he’s about to hit some unsuspecting pedestrian, my experience tells me that he’ll avoid any and all collisions, even if only by the narrowest of margins.

As I was riding with Charles last week, I began thinking about how my trust in his driving abilities is similar to my trust in allowing God to direct my life. When I first let God into the driver’s seat, I flinched at each new turn. I wondered if God really knew what he was doing, or if he would wreck my life with his crazy driving. He took me along roads I never would have traveled on my own — around road blocks I thought were impassable, through narrow ways I didn’t think we’d be able to fit through, and along bumpy paths I thought might shake me to pieces. But the longer I’ve allowed God to direct my life, the more I see that he is an excellent and trustworthy driver. I’ve learned to relax in the knowledge that God will bring me through anything safely and that I’ll end up just where I want to go.