Who's Driving Your Car?

    

     “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.” The words of author John Maxwell could never ring truer in relationship to today's Flat Tire Ministries Thought. The title presents a question that may seem very obvious in a literal sense, I mean when you sit down behind the steering wheel in your car it should be pretty safe to say you are driving, yet in more of a figurative sense who is driving your car? In life are you influenced by those you work with or go to school with? Or is your day constructed around what you watch on TV or what you deem as the reality of the current cultural trend in music or the entertainment industry? Do you have life habits that are unhealthy and thus create an unhealthy lifestyle for you and those that you love? Is your opinion of your life measured by what you see as success in someone's life that you may or may not even know? The question of who is driving your car may seem obvious, but I want to suggest that even if you are sitting behind the steering wheel you may not be the one that is making the decisions about where you are going.

     Going back to the opening quote, Maxwell makes it clear that if we want to do something different in our lives we have to change something that we do daily, think routines and habits. Whatever yours is "I would quit smoking, drinking, eating too much, or you fill in the blank________, but....", "I am so tired after I get off work I don't feel like working out", or "everyone else is doing it so why should I stop or change what I am doing?", you are the one that is driving those decisions and choices. Fortunately, we have the ability to change our lives, all we have to do is make the decision to change and then do it. Sounds easy huh? Well my friend it may not be all too easy, but it is possible if you really want to change. Remember Philippians 4:13 "I can do ALL things through Christ which strengthens me", Paul didn't say that you can change things up to a certain level and then things are impossible from there up, no I emphasized the word ALL because that is what the Word says we can change ALL things through our faith and trust in Christ. We must put our faith to work by making the choice to change whatever it is we want to see change, and that is where it gets tough,  many of us get stuck believing we can't change.

     We all have two voices inside us that guide and direct our thoughts and actions. In commercials and entertainment many times those voices are portrayed as a little angel on one shoulder and a little red devil sitting on the other shoulder. Each whispers thoughts of either encouragement or discouragement into the ear of the listener and then it comes down to a choice for the individual to decide which direction to go from there. That is pretty close to how it really is in life, but I want you to think about it just a tad bit differently. I recently read a thought that has opened my mind to a whole new perspective on change in my life. It went something like this, if you want to do something differently (change), you have to quit listening to yourself and start talking to yourself. First, I'm not suggesting you walk down the street chattering to yourself, that could result in you receiving a new white jacket and a padded room for accommodations. What I am referring to is that you stop letting your mind limit what you do or what you want to do in life. Too many of us let our minds be limited to areas that are comfortable and familiar when instead we should be telling ourselves that we can change, we can challenge ourselves, and we can be successful if only we will believe, trust, and stay strong in our faith that ALL things are possible. 

     Is it easy? Will there be immediate success? Did I say it would be easy and that you would succeed without effort? No, No, No, yet ALL things are possible. We must change our minds to change the world, and to change the world we must first change ourselves. "Who's driving your car?"isn't such a silly question when you think about what drives you to choose the direction you chose this morning to go to work, or what influenced your decision to continue that negative behavior you just can't seem to quit. At the end of the day you are driving your car, but are you listening to yourself as you make the decisions you make, or are you telling yourself what you are going to do in this life you are living? 

     Whatever you want to change in life, habit, behavior, actions, personality trait, it all starts with the one that makes the decisions in your life, YOU. I will conclude today's FTM with the words of Joshua 24:15, where Joshua made a choice about his faith in God that goes well with our message of  change today. Joshua in speaking to the children of Israel about their choices of who they were going to serve going forward took this stance, "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua had a decision to make, he could have went along with what was the current, popular thing of the day and he would have just kept on going along with his life, but Joshua chose to not listen to his mind that might have been influenced by what was going on around him. Instead Joshua made the decision to do what he knew was the right thing to do. You can do this too. Whatever it is and I'm certain there is a long list of things that collectively we want to do differently in our lives, you can do it! Don't listen to those negative voices in your head, tell yourself that you can do it and that you will do it and then go out and do it! 

Have an awesome week and make a change in your routine this week that will signal a change in your life. 

Coach Carter