Jeff Gordon as God

I used to blog. Where the L have I been?

As I am learning to become a counselor, and as I am getting older, and as I am a girl, it seems the concept of people not being where they expected or wanted to be in life is a more common conversation than it used to be. I am sure a lot of you have seen the recent Pepsi commercial with Jeff Gordon test driving a car. I don’t watch a ton of television, so when I see something I like on there, I think about it a lot. Well, this commercial is one that has stuck in my mind. Whether it was staged or not, it spoke to me on a deeper level. I hope maybe it will make you think and/or smile.  If you haven’t seen it, here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5mHPo2yDG8 

I am the car salesman. Going about my everyday life, trying to sell that I have everything under control. Not only do I try to sell this to others, but mostly to myself. “Look at how shiny this is.” “Look at how comfortable this is.” “Oh check out this accessory. “ “Look at what I this can do.” Blah blah blah…  

Then enters Jeff Gordon, for the purpose of this blog, we will refer to him as God. A customer (God) appears in my world and I, not realizing who he is, happily jump into explaining things to him and telling him about how things work. God politely nods his head and listens, but is thinking, “You’re comical.”

As I unknowingly hand God the keys to test-drive one of my products, I am still walking him step by step through what I expect from him. I believe he will listen because, well… I am the expert here! Right?

Wrong. God turns on the engine and shows me a test drive like no other I have seen. This is not normal! This is not planned and you are not obeying my rules! I am shocked, scared, mad, uncomfortable, and fight it. Why won’t he listen to me? I think I am about to throw up. He doesn’t know what he is doing! Who does this average looking guy think he is?  If he messes this up he is p(r)aying for it. Get me out of this car! Seriously, stop you are going to kill us both.

Once God whips me back in my spot, I rush to go tell on him, thinking I can fix this crazy moment. It’s at that moment, he reveals who he is and I realize how small I am. It’s at that moment I realize that it was when I was not in control that I had the best ride of my life.

Control gives us safety. It lets us know what to expect and it makes us feel like we are doing pretty well with ourselves. BUT, it also puts us in the role of God. Like Jeff Gordon, God has a much better track record than I do. I believe there is much more beauty in trusting God to take the keys than telling him how to drive. It doesn’t always seem safe because He mostly, maybe always, is pretty well disguised. As I am going on and on about how things should be, He humbly says, “Hey, can I try that?” Although the ride may be crazy and your job isn’t what you expected, or your kids aren’t who you meant to raise, or your relationships change, or college isn't as great as you expected, or nobody seems to understand you, or you have to move to another part of town (or another continent), or plans fall through, or you aren’t where you thought you would be at this point in your life, or etc. etc. etc…  you, like the salesman, may get to the end of it, laugh and say to God “Want to do it again?” Because I believe it is in the crazy rides, when you are not sure what is next, that you learn the best lessons and are shaped into who you are meant to be. Jeff Gordon knows how to drive a car and God knows how to align a life. 

(Cue: Jesus take the wheel)

I’m not the best candidate for driving my life.

What the L?