The Roller coaster called Life

“… if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself”  2 Timothy 2:13 (NIV)

I learnt an important lesson the day I rode on a roller coaster for the first time. Being the daring person that I am, I picked one of the toughest rides at the theme park to begin with. But as soon as the wild and furious ride began I realised it was much more than I had bargained for! I was particularly afraid for the safety of my 7-year old son who was sitting next to me. “What if in this rush of adrenaline he panics and pushes off the safety belt and falls?” I prayed without ceasing throughout the 2-minute ride (by the way, it seemed more like 20 minutes to me!). Then, when we came to a stop I realised something – we couldn’t push off the safety belt holding us onto our seats until the operators released the mechanism. Then it dawned on me that all my fears had been needless. All through that rough ride it had not been us holding onto the machine. It had been the machine holding onto us. No matter how wild the ride was we couldn’t have fallen off. When I understood this, I rushed back to take as many more tough rides as I could. And this time around I was relaxed no matter how terrifying the ride grew. All the while I was telling myself: “It doesn’t matter how frightening it may look, it is holding me. I will not fall. I will make it to the end”.

I realised that this is very much like our faith. Life can sometimes become like a wild unpredictable roller coaster as we face one challenge after another. And sometimes we begin to fear if we will ever make it through, and we wonder if our faith will be able to hold onto God’s promises till the end. One of my daughters in the Lord was sharing with me recently how the enemy was telling her there was no way she was going to see a particular promise from God fulfilled because she had doubted too much. Then I led her to 2 Timothy 2:13 ~ “if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself”.(NIV)

Just like the machine of the roller coaster, faith is not just about our holding onto God, it is about God holding onto us. Hudson Taylor, pioneer missionary to China, said that Jesus’ words in Mark 11:22, “Have faith in God,” could be translated, “Hold on to the faithfulness of God.” We are not called to have faith in our faith or in our own faithfulness but rather in the faithfulness of God.

We are called to say to ourselves, no matter how rough the ride of life may get, “It doesn’t matter how bad things may look, God is holding everything together. He is in control. I will not fall. I will make it to the end. I don’t know how but I know he will work everything out.”

Just like the machine of the roller coaster, God is not only in control and holding us. He is also in control of the entire storm. And he is faithful.

When I understood the mechanism of the roller coaster, my children and I had a thrilling time at the theme park. If we also will understand and accept the truth of the one who holds us, then we will walk in joy no matter what we may be going through.

Disputable Matters

“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters” Romans 14:1

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