Out of the driver's seat

Eugene Peterson's excellent book on growing up in Christ that gave me the name for this blog ("Practice Resurrection") has a vivid description of how the transformation process begins with God, not us. He reflects on the opening passage of Ephesians 1:3-14 (which in Greek is one, long, excited, run-on sentence) and notes: "This orienting introductory sentence places us in a cosmos in which God starts everything. Everything. There is not a single verb commanding us to do something, not so much as a hint or suggestion that we are to do anything at all. No requirements, no laws, no chores, no assignments, no lessons. We are born into a cosmos in which all the requirements and conditions for growing up are not only in place but in action. Once we get this through our heads and assimilated into our imaginations, we are out of the driver's seat forever. The practice of resurrection is not a do-it-yourself self-help project. It is God's project, and he is engaged full-time in carrying it out." (Practice Resurrection, pp. 67-68)

We are quick to want to move beyond this revelation. We want to know, "Yes, but what's my part? What am I supposed to be DOING?" We will have a part, and we will be called to participate, but knowing we are not in the driver's seat will change the very tenor and tone of HOW we go about joining in with God's work in us. I'm convinced that simply to acknowledge that this God's work with a quick nod of the head is not enough. I've got to reflect on this, remind myself of this every morning. Otherwise, it's like trying to grab the wheel again and telling God, "Thanks for driving this far...I'll take it from here." No. I am a passenger being taken to a destination and I don't know how to get there. But Jesus, who is the Way, will get me there.