1st Gear

1st Gear

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“The 5 th gear lowers engine RPMs at highway speeds, reducing noise and wear and tear.”

Life is better – richer, more peaceful, and with more positive energy – when living in the 5th Gear. But! But there will always be times in our lives where we find ourselves in 1st or 2nd Gear, grinding it out. We are going uphill, and our gears have to be lower to enable us to make the climb.

I am reminded of Paul’s words in his 1 st letter to the Family of Followers in Corinth:

26  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  27  No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave … (1 Corinthians 9:26-27)

Perhaps you have driven yourself into a ditch of your own making. Or someone else swerved and knocked you out of the way. Either way, you are upside down, and it is a struggle and a no-fun challenge. And you are grinding it out in 1st Gear.

I once called my older and wiser friend Det and asked, “I am in a serious ditch, and it would help if I knew if this was from God or from Satan? What do you think?”

His answer, “Yes.”

In essence, does it really matter? Either way, your loving Heavenly Father allowed it – it did not happen while he was distracted elsewhere. Jesus makes it crystal clear that nothing happens outside or apart from your Father’s will:

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father’s will.  30  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  31  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:28-31)

Grinding it out in 1st or 2nd gear is no fun, but it happens to all of us. Remember, your Heavenly Father either allowed it or may have even caused it. Either way, it is for your own good – always.

May you fix your eyes on Jesus, not on your ditch, and know he is the way through:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. (John 14:6)