Sunday, March 17, 2013 

By: Rachelle Hitt Bilbo

Ride of Your Life

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

My mother is terrified of roller coasters. She was always the one at the theme park holding everyone's cameras, purses, and other items that could potentially be flung from 100 feet in the air during a high speed loop.

As she would sit there, she could hear the screams and see the sharp twists and turns. She watched as the riders would walk off the ride--a few laughing, some walking crookedly, most green in the face. Consequently, she vowed to NEVER ride a roller coaster...well, until my brother came along.

I remember this one time at an amusement park when my brother began to plead with my mom to ride a rollercoaster. After much coercing, she decided that she could not tell her only son "no."

The moment the harness locked over her chest, she began to scream, "Let me out!" Then, the ride abruptly took off and her screams turned into confessions and prayer. "Jesus, forgive me for all of my sins! Help me Jesus! Jesus!!!!!!"

She just knew that she was meeting her Savior THAT day. No matter how loud she screamed and how much she pleaded, that roller coaster operator would NOT stop the ride.

Have you ever reluctantly stepped onto or into something that you knew you shouldn't have? That rollercoaster reminds me of our sin nature and peer pressure (yes, peer pressure even exists for adults). There are things that we know we should not participate in YET through coercion or weakness, we jump on anyway. We do this even after seeing the twist and turns, hearing the screams and seeing the results of others who have made the same decisions.

Once we've gotten on that "ride," the enemy does not want to let us off.

Whether you feel stuck on the scariest ride of your life right now, you've just gotten off of it, or you are currently being coerced, I challenge you today to abide by James 4:7, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

When you submit yourself to God and a life of obedience in Him, He can bring that ride to a screeching halt and help you pick up the pieces from that point.

Dear Lord, I thank You that You are there for me even in my times of temptation and that through You, I can have power over sin! Help me to always be aware of those things that are detrimental to my relationship with You.

I thank You Jesus for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life. In the Name of Jesus I pray, Amen.