I do not like roller coasters. I do not find them enjoyable and I usually feel like I am going to pass out. So, I avoid them unless compelled. That being said recently at Kentucky Kingdom for my daughter’s birthday I felt compelled. It was not my daughter because she does not like them either and it was not my wife. It was a feeling inside saying do it. I shook the feeling a few times because I felt it was a ridiculous thought. As we were getting ready to leave, I told my wife I wanted to ride the Kentucky Flyer. There are no upside downs so I figured maybe I could handle it. The line moved quickly which was nice and the next thing I knew we were seated and chugging to the top. We dropped down and the first half of the ride was everything I hate. My eyes were closed, my heart was racing, and my hands were clenched so tight to the seat I was afraid I might rip something. Then I heard my Father.

I had been praying 1 Peter 5:6 for about a week because life is a little chaotic right now. It is all good but chaotic. We had been in Kentucky for missions training for 2 weeks at that point. We don’t have normal jobs anymore and we are trusting God for our daily bread in new and exciting ways. Halfway through the ride, I felt God say trust. So, I quickly said, “I humble myself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt me in due time.” With that, I let go opened my eyes and threw my hands in the air. The ride changed or rather I changed.

What started as something I hate turned into an encounter with the living God and I was crying on the roller coaster. Not because I was scared but because God was showing me how much He loves and protects me. I was in His hand more than I was in a seat whipping around corners. God was holding me and revealing something about Himself to me.

I could tell you that life is like a roller coaster or that life is an adventure but instead, I want to say life is life. What yours will look like or feel like is up to you and God. Yes, you both have a part to play. Life will never feel like a roller coaster or an adventure if you don’t step out and trust Him. That is unless He decides to push you but that’s a different message. Life can be freighting and uncertain but only if you are stepping out into the unknown and trusting God to lead you. It has to be that way because we have to learn to trust, obey and humble ourselves under His mighty hand. God wants you to lean into Him so we can truly know Him. This means He doesn’t give us the whole picture and make everything OK from the word GO. It has to be a process and that is OK because if we embrace the process and press into the Father, we encounter Him in ways we never can outside of trusting in the storms and chaos. It is so worth it to take the ride because in the end, we have something that is beyond anything the world can offer. We encounter the living God and have intimacy with the one who sustains the universe. That is just awesome in the truest sense of the word.

Just a thought,

Mike