Adaptive Cruise Control

We recently upgraded our minivan to a 2019 model, and it has this fancy modern feature called “adaptive cruise control.” If you’ve never experienced this, it’s sort of wild. You set the speed you want to cruise at, let’s say 75 mph, but as you drive, the car uses radar to detect vehicles ahead of you. It calculates their speed and distance and adjusts your speed accordingly. It will never go faster than the cruise you set, but if a car moves in front of you, you’ll find yourself slowing to 72…70…68 mph. Once that car gets out of the way, yours will ramp back up to 75, all while you do nothing but guide the steering wheel and eat your brisket sandwich from Buc-cee’s.

We took this new Millennium Wagon on vacation this Spring, and somewhere south of Birmingham, I had this revolutionary cruise set and was lost in my audiobook when it suddenly felt like the van was braking—firmly. Before my brain had time to process—before I noticed that traffic had slowed to a crawl—the vehicle recognized what was ahead of me and recalibrated instantly, bringing my speed down to prevent a collision.

Doesn’t God work in a similar way sometimes?

When you’re young, it’s easy to think you can have it all figured out. I’m going to graduate, go to this college, have this career, work there, live here, etc. We want to set that cruise control and just let it drive. Full speed ahead.

But along comes set backs. Delays. Disappointments. Illness. Grief.

That 75mph you set is feeling more like 50mph. People are passing. You look at the dashboard and think, what is going on here?

When the van slowed me down, it wasn’t malfunctioning or trying to prevent me from getting to my destination. It was helping me prevent a collision. It was keeping me safe.

Sometimes the Lord throws things in our path that slow us down or change our course, not because we’ve done anything wrong, but because He’s protecting us. Dwelling in Eternity, He can see what’s coming long before we do.

At times, He blesses us. But God in His infinite, marvelous wisdom, knows how much success will tend to develop pride in our hearts. He knows when we’re going to get too confident in our own abilities. That delicate push-pull can be frustrating. We get just enough clarity, just enough encouragement to move forward. We accelerate, set the cruise and then…life slows down. Things stall. Circumstances cool.

What if it’s not rejection? What if it’s a sort of Holy Spirit calibration?

Elijah’s life was full of ups and down. We first meet him boldly declaring to King Ahab that a drought is coming; then suddenly, God pulls him back by the brook Cherith. The brook dries up and Elijah is led to the widow of Zarephath for miraculous provision. Then the widow’s son suddenly dies. In fact, one of Elijah’s greatest difficulties came after his greatest success. One moment he called down fire on Mt. Carmel, cruising right along at 75mph, but in the very next chapter he’s at a standstill—running from Jezebel, depressed and begging God to take his life.

Elijah’s story isn’t one of constant success, accelerating in linear fashion. There was an ebb and flow, a back-and-forth. Success then setback.

Another way to look at it is if you’re making candy. If you’ve ever boiled sugar and water you know it takes a certain finesse to get it just right. You can’t just set it on the stove and walk away. The heat and stirring have to be managed carefully. Stir too little and it scorches. Sometimes you have to lower the heat, and sometimes you have to take it off the burner entirely before it boils over. It’s a delicate push-pull. Constant calibration.

Sometimes God lets us build steam, like that pot on the stove heating up. But in His marvelous, infinite wisdom, He knows when we’re relying too much on ourselves and our own abilities. He slows us down, cools things off—not to discourage us, but to keep us steady.

He knows how to protect us from dangers that lie ahead. He acts before our mind can even comprehend what is happening.

So if things feel slow or more difficult than you expected—

If doors aren’t opening as fast as you thought they would, or progress isn’t visible—

Don’t assume that you’ve failed. Don’t wonder if there’s something wrong with the engine.

If you’re trusting God, He promises to work all things together for good.

Even the slowdowns and the brakes you didn’t see coming.

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