Driving With Grandpa

 

For years we lived right next door to my paternal grandparents.  They were good, honest and loving.  My grandparents were a huge influence on my life. 

 Grandpa needed to take care of some business.  Mom and Dad were both working, so arrangements were made ahead of time for me to take him where he needed to go. 

 Our destination was only a few miles away, so the drive didn’t take long.  We talked, but not much.  I was a little nervous driving my grandfather.  When he was through with his errands, we headed back home. 

 It is the conversation during the drive home that I remember.  I was trying to be careful driving because I didn’t want Grandpa to worry about my driving, so I stayed away from the middle of the road.  I asked him if he thought I was doing OK driving. 

 His answer?  “You are hugging this side of the road a too much.  Be careful.  You don’t want to run completely off the road.”   Well, he just popped the air right out of my balloon!

 Here I was trying to stay out of the middle of the road, I didn’t realize I was getting too close to the edge of the road.  I would have been a lot better off if I had just relaxed and done my best without obsessing about it.  It is a lesson I’ve learned and re-learned many times in my life. 

 God does not want us to be that way!  I believe God wants us to be confident.  Not prideful, but confident.  We are His daughters, after all.  We represent Him.  So we want to do our best - whole heartedly - with the confidence that God will help us do it well. 

Then praise Him and thank Him – because He will help us!

 Colossians 3:17 says  ^“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” 

 Another similar verse is 1 Corinthians 10:31 “ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

 Notice a few key words: whatever, everything, and all.  I guess in some ways these words are scary because they leave nothing out. 

 But look at what else they say.  The verse in Colossians tells us to give thanks to God.  Doesn’t that help us know God will enable us to do well?  And in the verse in 1 Corinthians Paul says we are to do all to the glory of God.  If we are living for Him and if we have faith in Him, then He will bless what we are doing and we WILL bring glory to Him. 

 So we don’t have to give up and we don’t have to get all tensed up.  Just trust God, relax and do your very best.  Remember what we do is for our Him – and He is faithful!!

 Christ above all things - Robin