The Holy Spirit brought to mind the concept of a rollercoaster and how life’s journey could play out.
Parallel the examples given to some of your past experiences within your life's journey.
We must understand some parts of life's ride, we can laugh about and not allow fear to take residence in our thoughts, remembering "we have the victory in whose we are."
Matthew 6:31-34 tells us not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Basically, it's saying don't add worry to your day, just handle what you have on your plate today.
For the brave souls that have participated in such a crazy adventurous ride which requires tons of faith in the mechanical creations, secured seat belts and straps.
You will be able to grasp and remember what it felt like to be totally out of control and trusting the outcomes of the unknown. For those that have missed the experience of trauma and joy at the same time, I'm hoping you will be able to recognize these examples in other areas of life.
Prior to boarding a rollercoaster, you start feeling a little anxiety mixed with excitement. You know that you’re about to experience some scared feelings, emotions and slight fears but yet you still do it, choices are what life’s about. Many will pass on this experience knowing it will not enhance their life and others just jump into it without much thought!
So before getting on the rollercoaster you’ve thought about location, where are you going to sit? Do you sit up front to see and feel everything? Do you want to sit in the back and not see anything and still enjoy the ride? Or does the position even matter, you just want to have the experience.
Keep in mind, where you sit will have different impacts and you may be brave enough to try the ride again sitting in a different location.
These are questions you have to think about with life as well. What position do you want to be in at this season of your life? It’s not going to be forever, it could be seasonal, and it could feel like a lifetime, we don’t know? We’re individuals with many choices and part of life is learning and I say that so you’re not so hard on yourself when seasons shift, and it may seem that you've taken the wrong path. To me, it's only categorized as wrong if you didn't walk away with a learned lesson that helps in upcoming decisions.
Anyway, getting back to the rollercoaster scenario; you’re on this rollercoaster, you’ve selected your position, and your seatbelt is on to ensure safety and now it’s starting to take off and of course the biggest thing about a rollercoaster, you have to go up, really high and as you’re going up "slowly" really high, you have an idea what’s going to happen next. You anticipate it at that moment, especially since you've never done this before and you know it must go back down, "really fast."
Each rollercoaster has a different drop pattern, some go down with a quick steep drop, and some don’t, they turn, they swoosh, they drastically move, they go up and down and then it ends.
You get off and either you say, oh that was fun, I want to do that again or you’ll say, I lived and never want to ride again.
In the midst of the ride you’re screaming, you’re holding on with fear, you’re wondering if the seat belt will keep you in the seat or will you slip out? You're hilariously laughing so hard; part of you is saying "this is fun" and the logical part is saying "what was I thinking?" You wonder if the train will fall off the track because how fast it’s moving. You may hit your head against a rail or two, it may hurt and that will open other thoughts and welcome additional fears. Fear says, "what if it jumps off the track?" Or when was the last time they had an issue with this rollercoaster?
So many thoughts go on in your mind and sometimes the thoughts are so many and so big that you don’t really get to enjoy the full ride. Thoughts take over, the whole point of the ride was to enjoy it, to experience something new but we’re not able to with all these thoughts of “fear and what ifs.”
Fear comes in various tones and sequences; sometimes low key and other times very loud, so loud that reality has nothing to do with the outcomes. I’m holding on, oh my gosh; I just slide a little, am I going to fall through, will the seat belt keep me from falling out, did they secure my seatbelt correctly? I pulled on it several times but maybe the pressure will make it snap?
That’s how life is, it’s like a rollercoaster, you go way up high and all of a sudden something drops, a quick turn that was unexpected and it jerks you so hard you hit your head on the railing, you’re screaming from fear, because of the uncertainties.
Life, life is not easy; it can be hard if you don’t think about consequences tied to your choices.
Life, life is full of choices that create a smooth ride or a not so smooth ride and sometimes the turbulence isn’t tied to our choices, it’s just life happening…its living life, not tied to punishment from the Lord.
If we take the time to think about what’s happening during those moments, we feel tossed around and fear creeps in, that’s when we search for the good, the things that bring joy, you’ll see it exceeds the negative thoughts and supports a firmer foundation for the next ride.
Slow down, breathe and ask yourself, will this drop, or will the quick turn really take my life? 99.9% the answer is no, but it will make you stronger, more compassionate, forgiving and thankful.
It’s easy to feel defeated, because we live in this world of defeat, it comes naturally but it takes conscious work to keep our joy, peace and love, it takes the Lord to remind us of "whose we are" and that we are a victorious people, we already won!
Remember, whose you are!
Disclaimer - I do not own the rights to this song; music is a form of worship that brings unity, peace and unconditional love.
If you are not a Christian, consider giving your life to Christ today; don’t let another day go by, we are not promised tomorrow.
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