Driven or Led?

As you know, I spent 40 days blogging my way through The Purpose Driven Life. I finished the book a couple of weeks ago and since then have been forming my thoughts so I can write a review of it. A couple of days ago my thoughts turned to the word “driven” and its implications. I began to look for the word in the Bible and found quite a few references to it. Interestingly, the word driven generally has negative connotations in Scripture. It most often denotes an active force pushing and controlling a passive subject. For example, a ship is driven by the wind and the enemies of the Israelites were driven out of the land.

My thoughts then turned to the alternative to being driven. This, of course, is being led. The Bible has many references to the word led, and they most often speak of a believer choosing to follow God’s ways through knowing Him better. For instance the Israelites were led by a pillar of cloud which they chose to follow and Jesus taught us to ask “do not lead us into temptation.”

And so I wonder, does God call us to be driven or led? Does He call us to be driven by a purpose or led by His Spirit? Or can the two be one in the same? Can a determination of our purpose make us more willing to submit to the Spirit’s leading? Initially I must say that I am more comfortable with the concept of being led by the Spirit, who dwells within me, than being driven by a purpose. But this will require some more thought.

I hope to have my review of The Purpose Driven Life completed in the next day or two.