Articles
Roller Coaster Life?
Ever watch a video of people on a roller coaster? This morning, I saw a video of two reporters from KWTV-9 OKC, who were among the first to get to ride a new roller coaster at 6-Flags Fiesta Texas. It was interesting to watch their faces. They went from smiling for the camera and making sure their hair looked OK, to gritting teeth during sharp turns, to looks of fear with no concern about their hair anymore, to looks of being sick to smiling again, and all that in the first few seconds. Their faces told the story of happiness, fear, uncertainty, unpleasantness, bad feelings, good feelings, and everything in between.
I'm sure you have heard life referred to as a roller coaster before, I have. After watching this video, I can better understand why. Life too, has ups and downs, sharp turns, periods of being upside down, lots of happiness, some fear, some uncertainty, curves, periods of going in circles and everything in between.
Once you get on a roller coaster, you have no control. You don't have a steering wheel or brake pedal, you can't call a time out, and you can't pull over for a minute to take a breath. You are along for the ride and nothing else. Like it or not, when we are born, we are along for the ride till the end. God gives us the ability to control a lot of things, and our decisions dictate how most things go, but sometimes we have no control at all, and we simply try to hang-on.
One reporter seemed a bit concerned about her seat belt. She knew it was the one single thing that stood between her and certain death, which was just one blink of an eye, or only a few feet away if something failed. She needed the security of that seat belt to deliver her to the end of the ride. She had to trust that it was sufficient to keep her secure.
God does that for us in life, through our faith, through our knowledge of Him, and through His provisions for us. He never promises us we won't have ups and downs, sharp curves and some upside-down time, He only promises us that if we will put our trust in Him, that He will be with us, protecting us during the ride, and that He will deliver us to the end.
We willingly and oftentimes eagerly place our faith in things like seat belts on a roller coaster to take care of us when we can't control our situation. Do we place our faith in God every time the circumstances of our lives take us for a ride?
