The blessings of cruise control

For four days last week I was in Southampton, attending a Christian Healing and Mission Conference. It was truly amazing! I travelled down with my wife, Sue, and two other ladies, Wendy and Elaine, from my church. Our car, a Toyota Aygo, is fairly small, and although it could seat four people, the boot is minute and there was no way we could fit all the luggage in (especially as Elaine decided to bring the kitchen sink!)

Fortunately Wendy's husband, Denis, came to the rescue by suggesting that he and I swap cars for the period of the conference. He has a much bigger car with a huge boot, even big enough to take Elaine's kitchen sink. It was an inspired suggestion, and I was pleased to accept the offer.

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed driving Denis' car. Not only was it bigger and more powerful, it also had cruise control! I had never before driven a car with cruise control, but it was brilliant and made motorway driving so much easier. For those unfamiliar with cruise control, basically it is a system whereby once you reach a desired speed you can switch on the cruise control and the system will keep the car at the desired speed, without you having to keep your foot on the accelerator pedal!

Of course, as soon as you press the break or clutch pedal, the system disengages. The driver has to keep a close eye on the road to look out for slower cars ahead etc. But, as I said, it makes driving much less stressful. Unfortunately, when we got back home I had to return Denis' car!

It has made me think a bit about life's journey. It's easy for us to allow life to get on top of us, and be submerged in the stresses and hassle. But just as cruise control makes motorway driving so much easier, when we allow God to take control of our lives and we follow his directions, we find ourselves so much more at peace. It takes a lot of the stress from life, because we know that God is in control. After all, he is our creator, so it must make sense to follow his instructions!