Who Is Behind the Wheel?

On a cloudy morning, sometime around 5:00 a.m., a lone commuter drives to work, and not in the best frame of mind. As he leaves his neighborhood, he heads out onto the highway that will take him to his office. He barely notices that the road is still a little slick from some drizzling rain. Vaguely aware of the need to watch for roadside deer (and for other early-birds like himself), he is not operating at full capacity. His thoughts are elsewhere.

Before long, more motorists are joining him on the highway. Red lights merge into white and yellow, and in the privacy of his mind the driver is turning his attention to unresolved frustrations and angry feelings. Anger over his past is controlling his present, as he loses sight of the rising needle on his speedometer. Passing a sluggish car ahead soon takes the place of his petty desire to win an imaginary argument. Before long, the inevitable happens—flashing blue lights replace headlights in his rear-view mirror, and suddenly the speed-demon commuter is snapped back into reality… possibly averting a far worse outcome.

Where do dark thoughts and angers come from? All too often, we see or hear of the explosive results of wrong passion, pent-up anger and domestic dispute. Some instances are shocking, such as the headlines telling us of killing sprees in schools and colleges across the nation. Others are seemingly mundane events gone wrong, fueled by day-to-day frustrations that would normally go unnoticed, save for passing by a random traffic stop.

Large or small, emotional disturbances and interpersonal breakdowns often carry a heavy price. It may be a higher insurance premium or expensive car repair. It may be a lost job or damaged relationship. In the most extreme cases, lives can be lost and families ruined when people lash out, having decided they “just can’t take it anymore.”

Sometimes the line between a petty annoyance and a ruined life may be as narrow as a patch of wet pavement early in the morning. Causing an accident that may end another person’s life—or your own—hardly seems a reasonable response to a lost argument, missed professional opportunity or romantic rejection.

What does God teach us about controlling our thoughts? The Apostle James was inspired to write: “What causes wars, and what causes fightings amongst you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war” (James 4:1). Scripture also records these words of the Apostle Peter: “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Through Scripture, God tells us that we are subject to our thoughts and desires—and that we have an adversary with the power to devour us if we let him! Peter’s words remind us of our responsibility to maintain a watchful and sober attitude. How many of us would go for a drive, only to lean back and let people in the back seat grab the wheel and take us in whatever direction they chose? Yet, when we let those around us influence us toward wrong actions, that is exactly what we are doing in our personal lives!

For more on this topic, read our September-October 2011 Tomorrow’s World magazine article, “How Would Jesus Drive?” and read our booklet, What Is a True Christian? Make sure that it is Jesus Christ who is in control in your life!