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By Rev Don Rivers
Have you ever felt like a gerbil running on a never-ending wheel? Life can move so fast it seems like a blur. We can find hours, days, weeks and months move by so fast our head spins. Life is moving at a speed that is difficult to keep up with, avoid being swallowed up. STOP! Let’s see if we can slow down. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Have you ever seen the hours go as fast as it does on race day? The hours turn into minutes, the minutes into seconds and before you know it the checkered flag has fallen and it’s time to pack up and head home. This is especially true when you are chasing the setup or you are trying to repair some damage. The next thing you hear is the call for your heat or feature. Where does the time go?
We experience similar events in our daily lives. We wake up, get going and before you know it, the day is over. Where does the time go? The Season just started and now it is in the books. Champions are crowned and we start looking forward to next year. It hit me the other day at the track when someone said, “see you next year.”
When I look at the photos of my children I remember the times that went by all too quickly. I lament that I didn’t always value the events of everyday life and see their significance. I find myself wondering if I spent enough time with them. I wonder if I have taught them the right way, the way of God.
I remember a lesson God taught me one day. I was late and focused on getting to where I needed to go. Traveling the backroads, moving right along, when out of nowhere there was a man standing in the middle of the road holding up a stop sign. What! I need to get somewhere important; I can’t stop. I realized that the road ahead was closed because someone traveling too fast left the road and crashed. It didn’t register that the message was for me, I just got frustrated, turned around and tried to find the quickest detour and get to where I thought I needed to be.
When I arrived, I was met by someone who needed to see me and talk. A significant event had happened in their life and they needed encouragement and support. I then realized if I hadn’t been detoured the timing would have been different and I would not have been where God needed me when He wanted me there. My agenda and His were on different pages and I realized His was more important. I look at detours differently now.
Doesn’t it seem that we get caught up in things that we think are important, we think they need to get done, but in hindsight they were not the most important. I received an important piece of advice from a good friend once, “If it’s going to matter in 300 years it’s alright to worry about, if it is not don’t waste the time worrying.”
We can be guilty of placing importance on things that are not truly important. We lose our sense of priorities. We worry about things that we do not need to worry about. We consume our time trying to change or influence things we cannot. We have an agenda and when it doesn’t go the way we want it to we worry about what will happen next. Jesus asked us a question:
Matthew 6:27, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Sometimes we think we can change the events of tomorrow if we worry about them enough. Do you know the answer? The answer, no one can. So why do we do it? We have trouble believing that God really has it all under control. We think He needs some help. STOP! Put on the brakes, live the life God has planned for you.
God promises us that He will provide for our needs. He has it all under control. We need only to trust Him with all of our heart. Listen to the promise God shares with us through the Prophet Jeremiah,
Jeremiah 29:11-13, For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
There is too much life to live to be enslaved to the rat race. Try to avoid getting so busy with things that we forget about what God wants us to do. We get so busy trying to survive we forget to take time to look around at what others are going through, what others need. God promises to provide what we need to survive. God wants us to focus on what others are going through instead of focusing on ourselves.
If we have put that trust in ourself then we will be disappointed. Even if we accomplish everything, we will still be missing something. It is God and God alone that can give us abundant life. Fulfillment in life comes only through Jesus Christ. No matter what we have, what we accomplish, what social standing we achieve, it will be incomplete without a saving knowledge of God through Jesus.
Don’t get consumed by the pressure to get things done. The line of the song says, “Life’s too long to live like this.” Focus on what is truly important, on what will affect eternity. Focus on the things of God. Live in such a way as to be sensitive to the leading of God. Step off the gerbil’s wheel and stop running so fast that life is a blur, slow down and let things happen. Put on the brakes. Watch for where God is working and join Him there.
Psalm 118:24, This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support and donations helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.
