“If He’s God, I adapt to His roads; he does not adapt to me. If God was my assistant, then he betrayed me. But if I’m his assistant, all this trouble in my life had liberated me. It liberated me. I was finally ready to let Him be God.”
Elisabeth Elliot
I found this quote shortly after publishing my last post, The Driver’s Seat and Full Control. It is meaningful because it takes something I was acknowledging even deeper. The sentence, “If God was my assistant, then he betrayed me.” hit me square in the face.
In my post, I talked about the assumption we often have that Jesus is content in the passenger seat, as long as we have invited Him to be with us. We expect Him to go with us wherever we steer, because He said He would never leave us. But it isn’t His place to follow us, we are to follow Him.
Elisabeth Elliot points out here that God is not our assistant. If that is who He is, is He even God? No! That makes us boss and Him subordinate.
God isn’t looking to you and me to take Him along for the ride. He doesn’t exist to make our agenda work. He isn’t in the business of promoting us.
That would be a betrayal because He said He was all-powerful. He promised to lead and direct. He told us we can trust His plan to work everything out for our good and His glory.
That is no description of an assistant. After reading what Elisabeth Elliot said, I am even more resolute that I don’t want to take control. I need to focus every day on staying in my lane.
I belong in the passenger seat. I must adapt to His roads. He is God. I am here to serve Him.
I, the assistant, am liberated on this road.
What road are you traveling with Jesus right now? Parenthood? Medical treatments? Job search?
It might be easy to theoretically say we’re content to sit shotgun, but trusting God with real-life highways and interchanges is hard. Desire for control of the journey is real. Do you believe He knows best?
I don’t know about you, but I realize I cannot control much. My messes, like Elisabeth Elliot said, have liberated me. I’m ready to let Him be God.
“Jesus, take the wheel
song by Carrie Underwood
Take it from my hands
‘Cause I can’t do this on my own
I’m letting go
So give me one more chance
And save me from this road I’m on
Jesus, take the wheel”