Jesus, Take the Wheel: A Closer Look

jesus take the wheelJesus Take the Wheel is the story of a young mother who lives a frenzied life. On a late-night drive on a snow-covered road in Cincinnati, Ohio, the woman begins taking a closer look at her life and wrestles with the hard truth that she's not really taking the time to follow her heart. Her car skids across a patch of black ice, and loses total control.

In her panic she holds her hands away from the steering wheel and cries out to Jesus. Subsequently, the car stops spinning and safely comes to rest on the road's shoulder. After looking at what has happened, and that both she and her baby are safe, the woman decides to let "Jesus take the Wheel" of her life.

Reasons for the popularity of Jesus Take the Wheel

We're guessing that Jesus Take the Wheel was amazingly popular for several reasons:

A Closer Look at the Song and Artist

Jesus Take the Wheel has some tremendously powerful messages and metaphors.

Jesus is Lord of everyone and everything. He does love us enough to arrange circumstances that force us to acknowledge that living life without Him as Lord over our own lives is not the best way to live. Jesus acknowledged that those He calls friends are those who actually obey Him.

But what does it really mean to obey Jesus and to let Jesus take the wheel of one's life?

In living a right life before Him and His love, Jesus does call us to absolute and unconditional surrender. A perfect summary of the whole Bible, according to Jesus is to Love God with all that we are, and secondly, to prove we love God by loving our neighbors as our selves.

Those wishing to let "Jesus take the wheel" should closely examine what Jesus called his followers to do, those who are thinking about following Him should first stop and think what that really means. It is not a matter of merely saying, 'Jesus, please help me out when I am in trouble, and I'll try to do the right thing.'

It is a matter of joining His movement, the kingdom of Heaven, studying His teachings in order to obey them, and being willing to give testimony to the fact that Jesus is Lord of everyone and everything.

It also means that we must be willing to imitate Jesus, to bring healing to a lost and broken world. To feed the poor, care for the sick and those in prison, and generally look for hurts and bring healing in whatever form is appropriate.

Lastly, to follow Jesus is to identify with Him and realize the world may hate us because it hated Jesus. To let Jesus take the wheel means to forgive those who hurt us.

For further thought on the message that Miss Underwood may or may not be personally endorsing, one may wish to make comparison between Jesus Take the Wheel and the message of Before He Cheats...

Jesus Take the Wheel Lyrics

She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve
Going home to see her Mama and her Daddy with the baby in the backseat
Fifty miles to go and she was running low on faith and gasoline
It'd been a long hard year
She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
she was going way too fast
Before she knew it she was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn't even have time to cry
She was sooo scared
She threw her hands up in the air

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder
And the car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the backseat sleeping like a rock
And for the first time in a long time
She bowed her head to pray
She said I'm sorry for the way
I've been living my life
I know I've got to change
So from now on tonight

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on

Oh, Jesus take the wheel
Oh, I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
From this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
Oh, take it, take it from me
Oh, why, oh

Jesus Take the Wheel Stats

"Jesus, Take the Wheel" was certified Platinum by the RIAA in April 2006.

The song debuted at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and eventually spent six weeks as No. 1.

That ties Underwood with several other female artists — including Kitty Wells, Faith Hill and Taylor Swift — as runners-up for the longest-running No. 1 song by a solo female artist; the record is held by Connie Smith (1964's "Once a Day").

It proved to be a crossover hit, eventually making it to number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and selling around 1.171 million digital downloads.

Proving the song's success, at the 41st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was named Single of the Year.

"Jesus, Take the Wheel" finished 4th on the 2006 Year-End Hot Country Songs Chart.

The album's second single, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was released to radio on October 18, 2005. It received so much airplay that it debuted at #39 on the Billboard Country Chart in its first week.

It eventually reached #1 for six consecutive weeks, two weeks shy of Connie Smith's record for a solo female performer, set in 1964-1965 when "Once a Day" topped the chart for eight weeks. The songwriters of Jesus, Take the Wheel, Gordie Sampson, Brett James and Hillary Lindsey, were awarded the 2006 Grammy award for Country Song of the Year.

"Jesus, Take the Wheel" earned a number one spot in Christian radio countdowns. "Jesus, Take the Wheel" won the Gospel Music Association's award for best country single of the year. Underwood's third country single, "Before He Cheats", hit number one on Billboard's Hot Country Songs, staying there for 5 consecutive weeks, marking Underwood's third country number one hit and her fourth number one hit all together.*

 

*According to wikipedia.com