In The Driver’s Seat

In the Driver’s Seat

There is a path before each person that seems right.

Proverbs 14:12

By the time I was nine, my older brothers were gone from home. I learned to drive the truck and the tractor in order to help my dad on the farm. He was accustomed to the boys knowing how to do things, but it took him a while to learn that his blonde little girl was not as savvy as her older brothers.

One hot August day, as we prepared for hay-baling season, my dad’s tractor would not start. He asked for my help as he attached a tow chain on our old truck and then to the front of his small Massey Ferguson tractor. He wanted me to pull the tractor until the engine started. I hopped in the truck, excited that I would get to put my newly learned skills to work.

My dad assumed that I would ease forward and gradually let the slack out of the chain. He was mistaken. Thinking the tractor would be hard to pull, I revved the engine of the old Ford, shifted it into gear, and gunned the gas. I am sure my dad was bewildered as he saw the slack in the chain quickly disappear.

Knowing what was going to happen, Daddy barely had time to grip the steering wheel before the slack vanished. The abrupt jolt realigned the front of the tractor and both our necks. Daddy thought the tractor had problems before I helped him, but afterward it needed a total overhaul.

Don’t you know, God often feels as my dad did? He has high hopes for what we, as his children, will be able to accomplish. And then, when he sees our immature actions and lack of wisdom, he just shakes his head and smiles, knowing we need him to get through life.

—Pam Whitley

Father, when others ask me for help, please don’t let me assume I know what is best. May I always consult you and then follow your instructions. Amen.