As kids, of course, I mean me, we learned what it meant to sit behind the steering wheel and pretend to drive. This was before Power Steering, so you could actually turn the wheels without a key. The Steering Column did not lock into place when you took out the key. If you were lucky enough, then you could practice shifting through the gears, working the pedals, and steering with all your might against the friction of the ground.
We, uh, I, practiced maneuvering the car around curves, down fast ways, stopping at stop signs, and going anywhere our imagination took us. Of course, I learned to drive starting around six years old, sitting in my dad’s lap, steering, while he worked the pedals and shifter (3 on the tree). Lessons were real-time, not in a simulator or place of imagination. Later, dad would work the pedals while I learned to shift. As I grew, I morphed into a driver, learning as you went merrily down the roads of life, enjoying the tracks as they unfolded before me.
Getting off track was never a worry. Bumper cars had curbs, and you had to stay on the electrified driving field. Gocarts were more like it. Spinning through the grasses of the yard, making dirt tracks while dodging trees and fences. But when you were on the roads, your attention kept you focused so that you never went off-kilter.
I woke this morning and realized my overnight thoughts about driving identified me to myself. Probably 2 million miles under the belt, and if my back were not hurting, I would hop in my truck and take a cross-country trip. I’ve identified roads and destinations around the world that I would love to drive on. Twists and turns, crossing great mountain passes, and down many a coastline.
As life would have it, however, my wishes may never come true. How did I get off track?
Life Has Curves You Can’t Take
Sometimes life throws you a curveball, and you swing your bat as you have done many times before. Strike! You don’t let that curve throw you out of the game. You get to set up for the next occurrence and prepare to swing for the fences! Will it be a home run? Who knows? The pitcher isn’t quite ready!
Compare this concept to life as a driver. (See how I transitioned from one love to the next?)
Around every curve, you feel the centrifugal force threatening to pull you off track. Against this unseen and natural force, you fight to keep the wheels and nose pointed in the right direction. Slippery wet, or icy slick, you learn early to consider the conditions as you work on maintaining control. Let your wheels start to drift out of control, and you will quickly lose sight of your goal as you go spinning, around and around, finally resting on the side where you didn’t want to be.
You are off track!
This happens in most areas of life: career, learning, relationships, family, health, and even God. You try as hard as you might but find it’s easy to lose control and drift off the known path leading you down the road of life. How does this happen? Distractions. Challenges out of the left field. Even a pandemic or two. Take your eyes off the ball/road for a moment, and before you know it – change happens.
Consider Israel and Egypt
Israel went to Egypt due to many reasons. God’s planning, putting the brothers in open view of their sin, there was a drought where they were. Israel found success and a good life in those early years. Time progresses, and before you know it, they are bound to the nation of Egypt in a way they never saw coming. Bondage. But God had a plan, and before you know it, they are taking spoils from their one-time host and heading to the promised land.
You know the story well. 400 years in Egypt had made them dependent on a lifestyle, and suddenly they were in a new ball game. Yes, it was one they longed for but also ill-prepared for the undertaking. As Moses passes off the scene, a new chapter for the next challenge is ahead. The new leader steps up to the microphone and tells the people:
“Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
(Joshua 1:7-9 KJV)
Did Israel stay on track? Sometimes, yes, and many times, no…
This Is Often Us
Could it be this is how we all live? Not just ourselves, today or tomorrow, but generationally. We are sometimes on track (nation, government, health, life in general), and other times we’ve drifted. Before you know it, a relationship is shattered, the industry has changed, and your career is no more, the players in positions of power have changed and it’s a whole new ball game…
But Joshua… He gives a formula for success. Keep God’s law at the center of your life, speak it, live it, and you will continue down the track that God has set before you.
I read into it this. Sometimes there is a curveball/road ahead. But with God, you can face the challenge and emerge on the other side successfully.
So. What is your success formula? Jesus puts it like this, and it’s the foundation to everything else in life.
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
One of them, an expert in Moses’ Teachings, tested Jesus by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in Moses’ Teachings?”
Jesus answered him,
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
This is the greatest and most important commandment.
The second is like it:
‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’
All of Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22:34-40 GW)