If you have a teenage driver in your home, you know the word collision gets your attention.
There was a season in our home when we had multiple teenage drivers and consequently multiple collisions. Thankfully the pain points were dents and dollars, not injuries. But still… there is that awful moment when two strong things intersect and crash.
This week I’ve been thinking about a different kind of collision—a collision of wills. What happens when my will and God’s will – Crash.
There’s many days that I feel like my will is well-aligned with my heavenly Father’s. I want what He wants and all’s well.
But there are other days when I just want my own way. I feel I have perfect ideas, dreams and expectations–but the Lord has other plans. A situation changes. Bad news comes. A door closes. A loss happens. A prayer isn’t answered the way I hoped. Collision.
And in that moment, I’m faced with a choice: Will I stubbornly cling to my will… or trust His?
Here’s where this connects to parenting.
Every day, in many small ways, our children’s wills can collide with ours. They want their way but we know better. And in those moments, we need to lead them well. In those moments we can do something much deeper than manage behavior. We can teach a radically spiritual lesson.
That there is a Will that is much wiser than theirs… and it can be trusted.
It takes courage and intentionality to lead with a kind of love that has their best interests at heart even if it means a collision of wills. And leading like that takes committed consistency in order to build in them a lifetime of reliable trust.
But if we lead that way, what we’ll be practicing in our homes is the same thing we are all learning to practice with God:
“Not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42).
And here’s the good news: God is kind and patient with us while we learn to fully trust Him when our wills collide.
This week let’s look for ways to turn a collision of wills into greater trust: with our kids and with our king!
“The willingness to say ‘Yes, Lord’ to whatever He chooses for us is the only way to find peace. It means a surrender of our own wills, and that is a painful process, but it is the path to true freedom.”–Elisabeth Elliot