Don't Get Yourself In A Twist
After riding motor bikes for years I know how important it is to position the bike correctly in order not to end up in a hedge.
Most inexperienced bikers are very good in a straight line but it's the twists and turns that will catch them out. I am living proof of that, having fallen off a few times in my early inexperienced years and having the broken bones to show for it. Life can have the same similarities. We are normally ok in the straight but it's the twist and turns and blind bends that catch us out and leave us in the gravel.
Often the problems are not with our lack of sight but the absence of vision. (Proverbs 29:18 where there is no vision the people will perish but he that keeps the law, happy is he).
The secret of staying on the motor bike while you approach the unknown at high speed is determining the vanishing points in the bend. Is the bend tightening or extending? Should you slowdown or speed up? The wrong decision or position could lead to broken bones or worse. Life can be the same if we are positioned incorrectly. Without Gods guidance you will lack divine vision. You may be relying on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5 trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...) You may be opening up the throttle when you really need to be releasing it and slowing down.
We know the turns and bends when things are going well but it's the unfamiliar twists and turns of life that will floor us. God knows what you're about to encounter, He knows how sharp the bends are and the dangers that lie ahead so He sends someone to aide you in your bend, someone who He has equipped to steer and accompany you. As an experienced biker you gain additional senses of observation. Your sense of smell increases. You can smell rain in the air and diesel on the tarmac. You can see the change in the road surfaces and slippery potholes that could cause you to crash. You smell things; you see things all around because you have to look ahead. A simple missed pothole could mean sudden death. You can't afford to fall off too often or at the wrong time because it could mean the end of your journey.
Being on motor bike makes you more alert to the dangers on the roads than before and it's the same as when you're in Christ; you become more alert to the dangers of the world. When you're in Christ and life takes on new twists and turns God sends assistance because He sees for you. He sees what you can't see. He sees around the bend and beyond the corners. The aide He sends to you is His Spirit in human form. God sent HIs son Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to guide, guard and protest us. To bring us to an awareness of the dangers that lie ahead on the journey of life. His spirit will awaken us, position us and protect us through the fast sweeping corners, the tight bends and the oily patches waiting to befall us. We have an increased vision if we allow the Spirit of the living God to guide us.
Just like the inexperienced biker, it's in the twists and turns that we see people go off the rails at different stages in their lives and it's normally triggered by fear of the future, pain and unhappiness about the past or uncertainty of the present.
For men it's more difficult. We seem to be under constant pressure in multiple areas of our life to "perform" and during the twists and turns we find it difficult, so we fall off. Statistics shows that most suicides are amongst men in their late forties to early fifties because of their past, present or future. Instead of choosing to tackle the twists and turns to get around the corner, they choose out. The performance is too much for them. There is an expectation of them and they are scared. They can't see round the corner so they cy out but no one hears them. They feel alone. The enemy tells them that they can't make it round the bend, they are weak, they're not agile enough, they are too old but what the enemy meant for evil God meant for good (Genesis 50:20) because His Word tells us that all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called to His purpose (Romans 8:28). God is faithful and the twists and turns are His strengthening process for us but we must be in right standing with Him to recognise and receive the assistance He sends to us.
At every corner or bend there's an opportunity being sought by two people (God and the enemy) and the enemy will use it to tell you you're not good enough, that you can't make it. He will use each circumstance to make you fail, luring you into a false sense of security but Jesus prepared a way at the end of the bend and is waiting for you. Just around the bend are the changes and the blessings.
When you're approaching the bends and corners, it's important to go in slow but get out fast. You need to know when to find your position and feed on the throttle. If the bend is getting tight you will need to ease off the throttle. Because you've not been on this road before you will have to approach the bend with an exit strategy; feeding the throttle round the bend will determine how you exit. In your bend God will position you. You might be in the wrong position to tackle the bend but God will send the right help so that when you come off the bend there's someone to help put you together again.
Sometimes we are going through twists and turns and milestones and it can be daunting and you'll be asking what next or thinking there's nothing there other than a long way back but God is faithful and He knows where you are and which season you're in. All you need is His grace because it's sufficient for you. Along the twists you will get hurt, disappointed and roughed up but if you seek Him in your time of traumatic twists He will deliver you so fear not because He's conquered it for you already. (Psalm 30:5 weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning). God's grace is all you need. Paul had a thorn in his side but God told him "My grace is sufficient for you." (2 Corinthians 12:9). He may not remove the negatives you feel in your twists and turns but no matter how tough it gets His grace is all you need. He has promised to never leave nor forsake you and His promises are forever. He is not man that He can lie (Numbers 23:19).
In life we will have our share of trouble, twists and turns but God has conquered the world and through Him we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). So when you're faced with twists, turns and corners, re-position yourself and hold on, victory is around the bend.
