Once upon a time there was a mother who was teaching her son to drive. "Did you see that Stop Sign?" the mother asks as they steam past the sign. A little later they approach a set of traffic lights. "Do you see that the light is red?" the mother asks anxiously.

Does this sound familiar? I mean, yes, maybe your parents do this, or did this, or will do this when you learn to drive. But have you ever found yourself doing it?

"G-d, I don't think we should be taking this turning, I don't want to go down this road ... G-d, didn't You see that sign? Aren't we supposed to stop now? Quick, stop ..."

So many people say that life is a journey. You travel in a car down life's road. There are many signs and road markings, but not all for us. G-d desires to drive each of us safely through the journey of life - but is He in the driver's seat?

Maybe He is, but perhaps you are like me - you're a very good 'Backseat Driver'. My mother has been driving me around since I was a baby, but over the years things have changed. The first change was when I turned 12 and was old enough to sit in the front passenger seat. When I was out with just Mum, or even with Mum and my younger sister too, I got to sit in the front, beside the driver. A year later, when I was 13, my eldest sister turned 17 ... suddenly we had a new driver in the family!

So that my parents felt safer when they were out driving with my sister before she passed her practical driving test, they put a second, smaller rear-view mirror in the car, placed so that whoever was sitting in the front passenger seat could see out of the back of the car. For one reason and another, the mirror never got taken down. Suddenly, I had more power. I could see everything that my Mum could see. Only you know what? I didn't have a pair of wing-mirrors.

I thought I had the whole picture. I could see everything in front of and behind the car, right? I became an expert back-seat driver. I was very useful to my mother when were we out and, like all backseat drivers who don't actually know how to drive themselves, I thought I knew everything.

Then my next sister learnt to drive. I'd just turned 15 when she passed her practical driving test and we drove all over the place together. It was lots of fun, but it was also scary. This was my sister, only two years older then me, and she was in control of the car. What had now become instinct set in.

"Did you know there is a cyclist just behind you ...? Don't forget to indicate, will you ...? The car in front is slowing down, shouldn't you slow down too ...?"

Finally, my sister would turn to me and ask, "Do you trust me?"

"Yes, of course I do!" I'd say.

"Do you believe that I know how to drive this car and navigate these signs and roads?"

It took time, but I learnt to trust my sister. She was right: she did know more than me and, more importantly, she had one thing I didn't have - she had the whole picture.

That's how it is with G-d. We invite G-d to drive the car we are traveling through life in, but He needs something more. We have to trust Him. We can only see what is directly in front of us and what is behind us. But G-d can see everything, forward and back - He has the complete picture.

When G-d is in the driver's seat, we don't have to worry. He is the perfect driver. And He is offering each of us (however expert a backseat driver!) freedom. A complete, beautiful freedom that will last forever.

Do you want G-d's best for your life? I know I do ... we have to break the habit of a lifetime and let G-d take control. Sit back, keep your eyes on Him and let the Driver, who has the complete picture, call the shots. Take the freedom He is offering and trust Him wholly.

Enjoy this Pesach. Celebrate the wonderful freedom G-d gave our ancestors in Mitzrayim; think about the wonderful freedom G-d is offering you ... and ask yourself this question: In my life ... who is really in the driver's seat?

Copyright N. Allen - MET