Take Your Hands Off the Wheel, Stupid - God Does Not Need Your Help!
Posted: Thursday, April 09, 2009
by Yangki Christine Akiteng
The Real People's Love Doctor
"But Mma, you don't understand. I've done everything I can and nothing works. I am just so frustrated".
"Have you done this?"
"Yes".
"What about that?"
"Yes. I am telling you I've done everything. I've read books. I've talked to people who have done it successfully. I've tried their ideas. I've even tried it my own way. I know I am not stupid or lazy, but for some reason this time nothing works. I feel like giving up".
"But Mma..."
"Akiteng! Take your hands off the steering wheel. God does not need your help!" my Mma says, her voice firm and strong.
This is the kind of reality check conversations I have with my mother over the phone. And as true as the sun rises from the east and sets down in the west, when I stop trying to control everything, trying to force something to happen and stop worrying and complaining about things I have no control over, God takes over the "steering wheel" and good things happen - e-v-e-r-y single time. Sometimes not the way I want them to happen, but the way He purposes it to happen -- in His own ripe time. God has never let me down, not once!
Some of the life lessons I also learned along the way include:
1. If you want something, go get it yourself or find someone who knows how to get it.
2. There are no short cuts in life. Just because you can't see the twists and turns from where you are standing doesn't mean they are not there.
3. The only one who can stop you is you. If someone stands in your way, you may have to go around them or go through them.
4. Fear and loneliness are luxuries of the rich; hence the saying, "I am too poor to be afraid and lonely."
5. Intolerance is an indicator of a mind turned against itself -- for it is precisely in those times that humanity itself is absent.
6. A fool thinks he/she is always right. The wise know that they may be wrong sometimes.
7. People who point fingers at other people's faces are covering up their asses with the other hand.
8. If people aren't gossiping or passing around rumours about you, it's because you haven't done anything worth talking about.
9. Stress is what you are doing while a healthier and happier life passes by.
11. Your success is never complete until you've made someone else successful.
12. Some people are just born to be admired and well-liked. What you say about them or do to try to diminish them only shows how jealous you are.
13. Pessimism, negativity and cynicism are excesses of an idle spirit. An idle spirit can't create anything useful, it only can destroy another's creativity.
14. The person who dies without bearing fruit (physical or spiritual), has lived a barren life.
15. God does not make mistakes. He made that annoying person to train your temperament
Do I always remember these things? Not always, that's why I need my Mma to straighten me up once in a while.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)This is all good sound advise, Christine; I think I'll print it out and post it by my computer. They are wonderful proverbs. I wonder if Solomon ever thought of any of them?The part about letting go and trusting God is most important. All believers say that they trust in God, but often try to do everything without His help. We all need to learn how to really trust.Please log in to respond to this comment.
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