Some time ago I preached about the difference between roller coasters and the teacups. The life God has in mind for us is a lot more like the roller coaster. When you are on the teacups, you are in control. Sure, someone else is spinning the big wheel, but you along control the speed of your teacup. You can really work it and see if you can make yourself and your fellow travelers sick, or you can have a nice leisurely spin along with everyone else. You go around and around in circles, getting nowhere fast. There is no sense of danger, no sense that you lack control, no highs, no lows. Just round and round, what goes around comes around (just like Ratt sang back in the ’80′s).
The coaster is a completely different experience. You strap in at the beginning of the ride, with no particular idea what lies ahead of you, and hold on tight. You abandon all control. You are entrusting yourself completely to the competence and good graces of those who designed and maintained the coaster.
Here there be highs. There be lows, aye! There be gut-wrenching twists and turns. How many people would dare ride a roller coaster without a measure of confidence that some benevolent soul designed it with the intention that its riders survive?
When we are told in Proverbs 3:5 to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding, we are being handed a ticket for the grandest roller coaster ever designed. When Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that we live by faith and not by sight, we are being invited to step out of the line for the teacups, yield control, and join him on the ride of our lives. You don’t have to know what’s coming next — THIS IS LIFE!!!! You’re NOT going to know!
Lighten up. Enjoy the ride.
