What do we mean when we ask the divine to take the steering wheel of our life?
It can mean that we commit to listen to our inner guidance – the quiet voice, our heart, and follow it unless we find a good reason not to. We may do this in small everyday situations at first, and notice what happens when we follow our guidance.
Also, what prevents us from listening to this quiet voice? And what holds us back from following it? What fears come up? What do I find when I investigate these fears and find what’s more true? What happens when I try following my inner voice in small things, see what happens, and perhaps gain some confidence in it?
It can also mean finding ourselves as capacity for our human life and the world as it appears to us. When this shift happens, we notice all content of experience – including this human self and its thoughts, feelings, choices, and actions – happens on its own. It all lives its own life.
God – or life – is already at the steering wheel.
These two – listening to the inner voice and finding ourselves as capacity – go hand in hand. They complement each other. And they are two beautiful ways to metaphorically hand over the steering wheel to the divine.
Note: When I practice following my guidance, I often do it with food, checking in with my inner guidance about when to eat and what, and sometimes also when to do something that has a flexible schedule, or what to do if it’s relatively open. And saying that God is already at the steering while of our life, which is true in a very real sense, is no excuse to be a jerk, act on our reactivity, make poor decisions, and so on. If anything, noticing that God is at the steering wheel can help us be a better steward of our life.