Are We Bush Hoggin'?
Keep your eyes on the road.
I learned that lesson , where I should have learned it -- in driver's ed. class. Our teacher, Coach Burnette, took us down lots of winding country roads, and believe me there are plenty in rural Alabama.
My lifelong friend, Joey, and I were in the same driving group along with another girl named Debbie. I'll never forget Debbie's 30 mph stretches and her 50 mph right turns. I don't know how he did it, but somehow Coach always remained calm. He had a "teacher's brake" over on the passenger side, but I'm not sure how much good that really would have done in an emergency. The man must have had nerves of steel.
I really didn't have much experience behind the wheel then, and I'm not exactly the best driver in the world now. I wasn't too worried about what Joey and Debbie were going to think because both of them had already driven. They hadn't had too many serious issues. I could handle it. Right? I crept along for a while, swerving around, trying to get a feel for positioning the car in the correct lane. Coach was wisely bracing himself against the dash. That's when it happened. An interesting sign on the side of the road caught my eye, and he said, "Hey, Girl! What are you doin'? Are we Bush Hoggin'?"
I snapped my head around and realized that his half of the windshield was being pelted with debris from nearly-waist-high grass on the side of the road. I also realized that I'd almost slowed to a stop. Coach shook his head and pointed out the windshield. "You gotta keep your eyes pointed in the direction you wanna go!" It was good advice really, not just in the car but in life too.
I think that's what I've been guilty of lately. I've been "Bush Hoggin." I've been swamped with a ton of distractions: it's the end of the school year, the air conditioner is about to give up the ghost, My husband is learning a new job, and I haven't seen my family in what seems like a much, much too long. All that stuff is swirling around my head, and I find myself like Peter outside the boat (Matt. 14:22-31). Guess what happens then? The human response to the daily chaos of life is to stop looking at Jesus and stare at the waves. Bush Hoggin'.
So, what's the big answer? How do you stay on the road? Faith.
A.W. Tozer calls faith, "a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus." In the same essay, "The Gaze of the Soul," Tozer essential says that faith is something you do. It's somewhere you look. Look at God instead of yourself or the storm around you.
Know what happens when you let your gaze shift away from Jesus? Everything else rushes in, blinds you, and you'll be on the wrong path before you know it.
The only way to keep yourself from "Bush Hoggin'" is to keep your eyes on the road.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
I learned that lesson , where I should have learned it -- in driver's ed. class. Our teacher, Coach Burnette, took us down lots of winding country roads, and believe me there are plenty in rural Alabama.
My lifelong friend, Joey, and I were in the same driving group along with another girl named Debbie. I'll never forget Debbie's 30 mph stretches and her 50 mph right turns. I don't know how he did it, but somehow Coach always remained calm. He had a "teacher's brake" over on the passenger side, but I'm not sure how much good that really would have done in an emergency. The man must have had nerves of steel.
I really didn't have much experience behind the wheel then, and I'm not exactly the best driver in the world now. I wasn't too worried about what Joey and Debbie were going to think because both of them had already driven. They hadn't had too many serious issues. I could handle it. Right? I crept along for a while, swerving around, trying to get a feel for positioning the car in the correct lane. Coach was wisely bracing himself against the dash. That's when it happened. An interesting sign on the side of the road caught my eye, and he said, "Hey, Girl! What are you doin'? Are we Bush Hoggin'?"
I snapped my head around and realized that his half of the windshield was being pelted with debris from nearly-waist-high grass on the side of the road. I also realized that I'd almost slowed to a stop. Coach shook his head and pointed out the windshield. "You gotta keep your eyes pointed in the direction you wanna go!" It was good advice really, not just in the car but in life too.
I think that's what I've been guilty of lately. I've been "Bush Hoggin." I've been swamped with a ton of distractions: it's the end of the school year, the air conditioner is about to give up the ghost, My husband is learning a new job, and I haven't seen my family in what seems like a much, much too long. All that stuff is swirling around my head, and I find myself like Peter outside the boat (Matt. 14:22-31). Guess what happens then? The human response to the daily chaos of life is to stop looking at Jesus and stare at the waves. Bush Hoggin'.
So, what's the big answer? How do you stay on the road? Faith.
A.W. Tozer calls faith, "a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus." In the same essay, "The Gaze of the Soul," Tozer essential says that faith is something you do. It's somewhere you look. Look at God instead of yourself or the storm around you.
Know what happens when you let your gaze shift away from Jesus? Everything else rushes in, blinds you, and you'll be on the wrong path before you know it.
The only way to keep yourself from "Bush Hoggin'" is to keep your eyes on the road.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
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