Life - The Ultimate Metaphor!

Psalm 9:1 – 2, 9

“I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High…The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you”

When reading the Psalms, all I can think is “I want faith like this.” I want to be like David. That even in difficult times, in hopeless times, in trying times, I can praise the name of Jesus without a doubt of His mercy.  Too often, I sit back and let the world influence my thoughts, my anxiousness, and my insecurities. But Jesus can over take them…on a daily basis, in some aspects of my life every minute or so. Its funny how one minute David is boasting in the grace of the Lord and the next asking why God has gone so far away. It is just nice to know that the Bible was God breathed, but written by individuals who were just like us. One minute we are praising God and thanking Him for all He has done for us, and the next we are waiting for a “sign” that he truly cares about us and is here for us. I realized in my selfish thinking, I am the only one who strays. That whole part about God is constant…yeah…I guess that means he is always there, even when we can’t see His hand in anything…or so we think. This whole idea that “God sees the big picture” is great, and then in my trials I think, “Oh, this must have been overlooked, this circumstance can’t possibly be a part of His plan.” 

Time after time, I feel like this rollercoaster of life gets stuck at the very bottom, no jerking movements, no whiplash, no view of the scenery, just stuck. In these times, I tend to use it as a waiting period, or a time where I over analyze every detail of my tragic situation. Probably not a good thing, since we all know there are too many things that I need to change. But in these times, all I can do is wait, knowing that even at the bottom there is no way to go but up. So, I leave my seatbelt on, knowing that this ride will soon take off. So I look up, praising Jesus that I can see another day, see His face at the bottom, and wait. I may wait for a while, but knowing that He waits with me. We may be the only two on this rollercoaster, but I know when it starts up, we’ve got a wild, crazy, and bumpy ride ahead. I don’t know about you, but I love roller coasters, the kind that go 0-60 in 2.5 seconds, the kind that flip you upside down a hundred times and dare you not to throw up….those kind. 

Maybe in God’s sense of humor, he knows that. And he is probably thinking, “why go to a theme park to experience this roller coaster? I can provide that experience daily, no whiplash required.” It can be your life. It is your life! Isn’t it funny that we would go on these rides, and love the thrill, but as long as we know that it will be over in about 30 seconds. As. Long. As. We. Know. When. It. Will. Be. Over. But how do we live a life now knowing what will come up around the next curve? I haven’t been very successful up to this point with figuring out the answer, probably because I wasn’t open to the answer I would find. The answer?… Knowing that you aren’t the only one sitting in the roller coaster. No, not your best friend, not even your family, but Jesus. He goes through it all with you, and all He asks of you is for a little faith. He can work with only an ounce of faith, but the more the merrier. At times, I give Him nothing and He still waits with me. You think you wait for change in your life, but can you imagine being Jesus and waiting for us to come around and give Him all of our hearts, faith, life? He wins when it comes to waiting for an extremely long period of time…try 25 years with me. Then I look at my life, what do I wait for …oh right, I wait for every two weeks when my paycheck comes! Great, Kristi. Way. To. Go. So, why not…since we are both in the game of waiting, why don’t we just wait together? After all, it’s nice to know that there is someone who understands, and is there with me through it all.