The Roller Coaster Ride

Most of us have ridden on a roller coaster at one point in our lives, except for those people who have taken one look at the hills, valleys, twists and turns and said, “There ain’t no way I’m going to ride that thing.” Regardless of whether it is a small coaster at a county fair, a large one at the state fair, or one of the behemoths at a theme park like Disney World or Six Flags, they all have some common characteristics. That first long climb uses a chain pull to drag the string of cars to the top of the first hill, and then there is that first long drop. After that there are more hills, more drops, violent twists and turns, and always the screams of those having fun…and of those who would like to leap off in mid-ride. Some of the rides in theme parks are indoors where creatures and scary people leap out of the dark to further frighten and thrill the riders.

Life has been compared to many things, like a bowl of cherries (watch out for the pits!). In this case, it is also much like a roller coaster ride. That first long climb is like growing up, going to school, getting that part time job in high school, and heading off to college or taking some other career move. The chain pull is the help we receive from parents, teachers, mentors, and pastors. That first drop is the first time you are on your own, with no real backup plan, responsible for yourself. Oh, your parents may assure you they are there to help out when you run into a problem you can’t handle, but the truth is you are taking the plunge yourself. Experience comes in terms of the next climb, which is using the momentum of the first drop to make it to the top and then the next set of drops and climbs. The turns are the sudden changes you make in the direction you had been heading and you or life has whipped you off in a different direction. The people who designed the ride planned for the force of gravity and the physics of motion to give you a thrilling ride. Just like the ride, life starts to slow down at the end and gently coasts to a stop at the station. Then it is off to some other destination.

God has a place in the roller coaster ride of life as well. That first climb is when we, like Jesus, grow in age, wisdom and grace. He wants to prepare us for life ahead, through the teaching we receive from parents, church, and others who pass in and out of our growing up years. That first drop is the first time we have to experience a setback in our life, when we get tested for the first time. It could a lost relationship, a death in the family, financial bad news, or anything that gets us to the point of wondering if God is really on our side and how he could let “this” happen. As we recover from whatever has befallen us we gain the next hill, only to again have life surprise us when we don’t expect it. Life will continue to deal out the ups and downs and the unexpected curves. The good thing is that God, like the safety devices that keep the car from flying off of the tracks, is always there for us. As we gain in wisdom and grace throughout life, we continue the ride until, like the roller coaster, we slow down and come to the end of the ride. Our departure from the car takes us to another, better destination.

You are probably wondering why you have to go through the periods of trial and victory as you go from birth to the final destination. In a way, it can be compared to the process of building strength through weight lifting or working out is some way. Muscle gets built up through the process of destruction. Exercising a muscle actually destroys it slightly. As it heals itself, it grows in strength, only to be go through the same cycle again as the exercising continues. It is the spiritual roller coaster process. God lifts us up, only to allow us to fail, and in recovering from that failure, we gain in strength to withstand the next trial, and recovery. God allows us to have our faith tested and rewarded over and over. As we gain in spiritual strength, we are better able handle the attacks on us by that familiar enemy, Satan. At those times when we don’t feel we are strong enough, all we have to do is call on him to help us to climb back up the hill, just like another chain pull on the roller coaster.

Throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New, the heroes of the Bible are tested and made stronger. Look the trials of Job or the growth of Peter after his denials. Job lost everything and, because he kept his faith in God, he was rewarded with twice as much as he lost. Peter recovered from his denials and grew to be the leader of Christ’s church on Earth. We get tempted, tested, we fall and then gain the knowledge and strength through our recovery to help us grow in our knowledge and love of God and his ultimate gift at the end of our life.

Where are you in your ride? Is it a time of trial, which gives you the opportunity to flex your muscles against the Enemy and seek and receive God’s help? Is it a time of building and growth and being in receipt of his favor and gifts in the natural? Your spiritual life and your temporal life will experience the climbs, rides, falls, and turns. Regardless of the point in the ride in which you find yourself, you can be secure in the knowledge that you have the best safety device there ever was: God. Are you ready to ride?