I just finished reading the most awesome book I have read in a long time. Silent Alarm by John Blumberg reminds you that life goes way too fast, and if you don't pay attention, you end up living life accidentally. While using a story of a man that had to get hit by a train before he realized what was going on, John leads us to understand how to live life intentionally.
I won't spoil anything, but I wanted to touch on the first point that gets raised. God is in control. Always. In life, it is so easy to forget this. It is so easy to think that we are the ones behind the steering wheel. Carrie Underwood won a Grammy with the hit "Jesus Take the Wheel" about a woman who realized she could not live life without Him. Life gets out of control when we think we are steering, and many people crash.
What does this mean? It means that we, as humans, are NOT in control. We are not all powerful, all knowing, just and kind like God. Too many times we like to think we know what is best, and we end up crashing. For many people, it takes the crash to realize it. For me, it was my mother's illness and death that was the turning point.
When you realize that life is spinning out of control, throw your hands up in the air and say "Jesus, take the wheel! I can't do this on my own!" You may choose to paraphrase Carrie Underwood anyway you like, but this is about surrender. Realizing that our existence was not our doing, but God's doing. He is the Creator, and He is in control.
This book goes on, and hits many spots in your soul. Unfortunately, most people I know get stuck here, and cannot go on any further, even after a crash. They go on living life without any idea why or how. Many people think it is about stuff, or status, or recognition. See, they get the stuff, the status, and the recognition, but they still want more, they still feel empty, they are never truly filled with joy.
True joy comes when you realize that God is always in control and you can honestly lift up your hands to cry for Jesus to take the wheel.
3 comments:
Hey - Thanks for the great post. I think it was the perfect reminder that I needed right now. (Good memories of that Carrie Underwood song, too!) My small group read through Silent Alarm last year and it's amazing how many of the lessons we still talk about and bring up in discussions.
XRC - You're right, people don't realize the game is over before it starts. Just a little too late...
Peace,
- Neo
Hi I finally jumped from Neo's to check out your blog. Thanks for the review, I should read it.
I've had plenty of real-life to remind me already, tho!
(Hope the B-day above went well!)
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