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I tend to be one that draws attention to the need for people to create margin, pull back, embrace Sabbath rest and generally ‘do less’. I’ve written and talked about it much and I stand by the principles and challenges that I’ve laid out. Our culture is obsessed with activity and distraction so there is certainly a need to be reminded of the power and value in rest and quiet. However, rest is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for the challenges we face in life. As in most things, more than one tool is required to accomplish the goal. No matter how many incredible uses there are for a hammer, and no matter how skillfully you can wield one, it is not the best tool to use when painting a house. The key is knowing when to use which tool. Though I am an advocate for the value and importance of rest, there are times when the worst thing you can do is slow down. (Click here to read my post on the Importance of Rest)
Life is complex. Juggling the challenges of faith, family, friends, work, money and the thousands of other things that draw on our time, energy and emotions can be exhausting. This is one of the reasons I so often call attention to the need for margin and rest. However, when we face serious obstacles that try to discourage us, deflate us and make us feel empty or hopeless, the last thing we may need to do is stop and think too much. Discouragement is a tool of the enemy to get you to quit. When you’re facing opposition and severe challenge you have to will yourself to move forward because if you don’t it may be quite a while before you get moving again. And when you stop you can feel stuck, which makes you all the more discouraged. While there is value in evaluation, when you’re bleeding out, get to the hospital as fast as you can… don’t stop and try to figure out how it happened and why it had to happen to you? If your goal is to stay alive, you better just keep moving and sort that out later. (Click here to my post on how you may be planting Wildflowers without even knowing it)
Motorcycle Motivations
There’s a lot to be learned about life when you consider the physics of riding a motorcycle. I know it doesn’t sound like the most philosophical pastime and the biker culture doesn’t necessarily bring images of poets to mind. However, if you pay attention to many of the disciplines required to successfully drive a motorcycle you can quickly pick up on valuable life-lessons. For example, when coming to a turn in the road you must discipline yourself to focus on the destination ahead of you and not on the turn in the road where you are. If you look at and study the turn too much you will likely lay the bike down and injure yourself. You are taught to keep your eyes focused on the road ahead of you and not around you. What a great metaphor for keeping our eyes fixed on the Lord and His great purposes for our lives and not on the details of the twists and turns we face in our stories, right? The same is true when it comes to hitting rough patches in the road. If you hit the brake out of fear, you’ll likely fall. As scary as it may seem, you need to hit the gas.
If you start to wobble and get a bit out of control on a motorcycle you are taught that the most dangerous thing you can do is slow down. Slowing down in the midst of turbulent times actually causes you to lose your balance all the more. Though it may be contrary to our instincts, when you hit a rough patch and things begin to get shaky the best thing you can do is hit the gas. Momentum can help pull you out of shaky situations where slowing down can cause your wheels to turn out from under you. Sometimes when we don’t know what to do, we can default to doing nothing. We certainly don’t want to make rash decisions or be impulsive but we also can’t afford to be paralyzed by fear. In our world, with so many opinions and so much information bombarding us constantly, indecision and uncertainty can put a wet blanket on your passions and plans. When you are fighting discouragement or confusion, determine to take action and fight the urge to panic and hit the brakes. (Click here to read my post on the Ills of the Information Age)
Feel alone? Be a friend to someone. Fighting discouragement? Text 3 people every day and tell them how valuable they are, reminding them of all that they have to offer the world. Feeling hopeless? Go serve at a shelter or randomly pay for a person’s meal. Take action. Hit the gas. You may find that rough patch in the road isn’t as scary after all when you determine to cruise right on through it. The Lord is for you today and so am I.
From The Bible
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. – I Peter 1:13 ESV
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. – James 1:22 ESV
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. – Ecclesiastes 9:10 ESV
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