Cruise Control

We talked about selfie control

We fight for control of certain areas of our lives because we lack trust in the God who loves us

When we seek to control other people or our finances, our relationships, or any other substance in our lives… we are seeking to exert our will over something in order to gain some sense of validation, some sense of

How we attempt to control how others view us in order to control how they think of us

Tonight we are going to talk about something along the same lines

We are talking about Cruise Control

Say Cruise Control

Cruise control is this handy little gadget that allows us to set our speed

There’s even this thing called adaptive cruise control now

Adaptive cruise control is a gadget that uses sensors to monitor how fast the car in front of you is going and it sets your speed so that you can match up with theirs without running into them

A lot of us live our lives with Adaptive Cruise Control on

Here’s what I mean

In our social media world, we are surrounded by images of people who are doing better than us

There are people that look to have a better Job, a nicer car, more well behaved kids, cleaner houses, bigger houses, and all the stuff that goes along with it

WE see these things and we feel that we are supposed to be at the same speed as them

So we attempt to control the speed at which we go through seasons of our life

We try to keep up with the Joneses

They got a new iPhone or the new Galaxy… I need the new galaxy. They got a new car… i need a new car.... They got a promotion I’m supposed to have a promotion

Each time something good happens in the life of someone around us we think that we need that as well

We get caught up in this deadly vortex of comparison

because of our desire for justice and equality… right what we talked about last night

We think that just because someone else does something we should do it too

It’s the curse of our generation

We have the ability to see people from all walks of life and experience their ideal life showcased in front of us at all times

It used to be you had to watch lifestyles of the rich and famous to see million dollar homes… now you just have to open up instagram

We see people’s highlight reel and we have a desire to set our cruise control to match theirs

This doesn’t only happen in the worldly stuff… this happens in the church too.

I should be farther along in my walk… I’ve been saved longer than that person… I should know more… I should have that spiritual gift… I want to speak in tongues… I want to be a leader… I should be able to _____ fill in the blank

We compare ourselves and try to control our rate of speed through each season of life

But what if I told you… Your Journey isn’t thier Journey

Heck, their mission may not be your mission, their ministry may not be your ministry

Just because you look on the outside and you see something glamarous… doesnt’ mean that it’s what God is calling you to do

You can’t control your calling

God is calling you to follow him and he has prepared for you works that he has ordained you to walk in

He loves you and he knows what’s best for you

He knows exactly what he’s doing

He’s never late, he never fails, he will always have a greater plan then you could ever imagine

Our Father isn’t only planning on getting you to a destination… HE’s also interested in creating in you the character that can sustain the mission he’s calling you to

So your journey is going to look different. The pace that you are going may look slower or faster than some… don’t be discouraged. THey are not running your race

You are the only one running your race

You are necessary and needed to the body of Christ

When God created you he knew that the world and specifically they body of Christ needed a YOU

When you spend all your time trying to set your pace according to someone else’s journey, you are attempting to control your cruise… your mission… your pace

You are attempting to define yourself instead of allowing God to define you by who he has created you to be

says that you were created in your mother’s womb. That God knit you together

Carefully crafted you and specifically called you to follow him

You are not going to look like anyone else… your journey isn’t going to look like anyone else’s and that’s a good thing

Let’s go to scripture

Paul is writing to the Church in Rome who were people just like you and me

He is telling us that we each have gifts given to us according to the grace given to us

That is free unmerited favor of God

He tells us that we are all to serve according to the gifts and grace that we have

If each person spends their time and energy trying to have the gifts and graces that God has blessed someone esle with … the body of Christ would never grow

If it were up to you and you were to compare your gifts with someone else and try to control your season in oreder to get where they are.... you would completeley miss what God has for you and the blessing you can be for others

Here’s another thing for you to contemplate

When you compare to someone else in order to try to set your cruise control by them… you are seeing thier current position… you don’t know how long it took them to get to that speed

That person who has the awesome big and cool house… you don’t see all the toil and stress and extra hours worked to earn the money to get into that house

That person teaching others… you don’t know how many hours of study went into thier life to prepare them to teach

THat person whose holiness shows and shines… you don’t know how many trials they had to go through how many hours of praying how many nights of crying themselves to sleep before they got to a place where their relationship with Christ is where it is

God is calling you to stop trying to control your journey

He is the one who sets the cruise control in your life

He’s the one who knows how long each season will be

He’s the one who knows when he will open the door and close the door and lead you into the next thing

Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be inspired by others and set goals then work to acheive them… that’s not it

But what i’m saying is when you are tempted to compare and to try to see your current situation and judge it by someone’s 10-20 year journey… remember that God has a special calling and a plan for your life and each step that you walk with him is making you into the person that he is calling you to be

STop trying to set your cruise control