Have you ever been a “back seat driver” with someone you felt was not taking you where you wanted to go or in the way in which you wanted to go? It’s a funny thing with back seat drivers. No matter how hard you try to get the driver to listen to you; ultimately they are still in control and have the power to do it their way. The driver’s seat of a car is the seat of power, and whether or not we like it, if we are in the car but not in the driver’s seat, we are in a place of submission and obedience to whoever is in that seat with the steering wheel.
In the car called life, we must begin to ask ourselves which seat are we sitting in? If we are not in the driver’s seat, who are we submitting to and obeying? This may not be such an easy answer. It might be that at times it seems as though we are in the driver seat, or at least shouting out commands to the driver trying to get out of the way, and at times perhaps we are content to allow someone else to take the wheel. This struggle for control of our lives, direction, and how we will navigate through life’s many turns, is at the very foundation of who or what we worship.
Worship, contrary to what we teach in mainstream church, is not the raising of our hands, kneeling, singing, or clapping. These are simply an expression, or the evidence of true worship going on inside of us. True worship is a reverence, love, submission, and obedience to a higher being or object. Whatever we choose to worship in life – ourselves, God, Satan, money, prestige, – this will be the person or thing sitting in the driver’s seat of our life. No matter what it is, it will be the one thing that determines where you go, how you go there, and what you do in this journey called life. When you worship something or someone, they hold your heart; which is the navigation and power in your life that determines your future. In car terms, your heart is the steering wheel.
In Revelations 4:8-11, John begins to describe what worship was intended to look like before the earth was ever created; “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” Thisact ofworship is a natural reaction out of a heartfelt love and devotion the angels and creatures of heaven have for God, their creator. If you noticed, their worship does not stop. Their love and devotion to God drives them into a lifestyle of worship day and night.
The original intent of worship was to express love, submission, and obedience to God and God only. In heaven, all power was in the hands of God and all the living creatures loved and obeyed Him. God was in the driver’s seat holding their steering wheel. It is thought that Satan, the devil, was the head angel of worship in Heaven according to theologians. As the head worshipper, Satan saw the power of worship and began to have thoughts of rebellion in his heart towards God. In Isaiah 14:13-14Isaiah desc
ribes what was in Satan’s heart, “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (NKJV). Satan decided he wanted to exalt himself into the place of God in order to receive the power over the steering wheel, kicking God out of the driver’s seat. This act of rebellion and sin in heaven caused Satan to get kicked out of heaven along with one third of the angels who decided to give their worship to Satan instead. Satan’s rebellion against God introduced perverted and twisted worship away from its original intent and introduced a new car and a new driver to God’s creation.
When Adam and Eve were created, they were created to worship God. God was in the driver’s seat holding their steering wheel called their heart. However, When Satan came to Eve and tempted her to bump God off of the steering wheel (just like Satan did in heaven), she along with Adam, took their hearts (their steering wheels) from God and gave them to Satan. This act of disobedience introduced the struggle between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Darkness to have humanity’s heart (steering wheel). Through the sin of Adam and Eve, perverted worship was introduced to mankind, and Satan obtained power over those who would give him their worship.
God, seeing what had happened in the garden, was saddened for His children. He desired their worship back, not because He wanted the power to tell humanity what to do, but because He was their Father and loved them and missed being with them. So there in the garden, we see God’s temporary fix of our heart that would lead to the more permanent fix of our hearts; “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Gen 3:21, KJV). God Himself had Adam and Eve cover with the blood and skin of an animal. This was the very first picture we see in the scriptures of what would be required of us to give our hearts, the steering wheels, back to God, receiving the flesh and blood of the Lamb of God we call Jesus. Worshipping the son of God puts God back in our driver’s seat through Jesus.
This act of worship; giving our hearts to Jesus, is not a one time thing. There is always a constant temptation to become the “Back Seat Driver” that wants to overthrow the one that has the steering wheel. The problem in the car called life is that we can’t be seating in two seats at the same time. Jesus says it like this, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13, NKJV). Each day we must wake up and choose who or what we will give our hearts to today. Who will have the steering wheel of your life? It is not easy giving up control over how and where you will go, but the good news about Jesus is, where He takes us is always far better than where we will take ourselves, or through sin where Satan will take us in life. Commit to not being a “back Seat Driver” and allow of all your heart, soul, mind, and flesh to worship God and God alone, submitting to His ways and His will this day!
What seat are you in?
Author: Alicia White, KIMI Ohio