“Oh Sovereign LORD, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.” Psalm 109:21-22
“How do ya turn this stupid thing OFF?!” And I was not happy when I said it! The ‘this’ referred to the ‘Lane Assistance’ button that is pre-programmed into both of our new vehicles. The first time I encountered its existence was VERY unwelcome and uncomfortable. When ‘it’ is engaged, it is STILL NOT WELCOME! Luckily for me, ‘it’ can be turned off with a touch of a button. So I did!
The lane-departure warning system uses sensors and cameras to detect the edges of the lane that I’m in. If the system thinks I’m about to cross a line unintentionally, it’ll warn me by, very briefly, stopping my steering capability. But even a nanosecond is too long for me and I come unglued. The way I see it, if I NEED assistance to stay in a lane, I shouldn’t even be behind the steering wheel.
My 15 year old Grandson Isaac just received his ‘Learners Permit’ to start learning ‘how to drive.’ As a LEARNER, he is REQUIRED to have all kinds of assistance in the process. Meaning that his mom or dad will be required to sit beside him and tell him what to do and how to do it… that is until such time he proves he has learned to drive alone. The process takes a year and cannot be turned off!
Programmers at car companies had a meeting one day and determined that THEY needed to tell consumers what they needed! Having driven for 52 years, I don’t feel I need a computer jerking me around while I drive around, in an endless quest to avoid people, cars and potholes! That’s NOT to say that I don’t have needs! In fact, MY manufacturer built ‘needs assistance’ inside of ME!
A lesson I’ve learned, and hate continuing to learn, is that I actually REQUIRE assistance in MANY areas of my life. Since I am not my own, my title holder has ‘built in’ safety warnings REQUIRING regularly scheduled ‘Owner’s Manual’ study time. There I learn the ‘How-to’s’ for healthy maintenance of HIS property! A life where I am ONLY a steward who WILL BE held accountable.
Giving up control of my life is naturally hard. It became hard when sin entered and became man’s ‘life-blood.’ Learning that I am poor and needy with a broken heart is a wake up call that is more irritating than comforting. But I am blessed to have a Maker that completely acts and moves with MY, and His, best interests at heart! I’m still ‘learning!’
How is YOUR heart and do you regularly go to and depend upon HIM for assistance?
