Some people I know love roller coasters. Two years ago Jan and I went on a couple of them at Disney World (our excuse was that our 4&1/2 year old really wanted to ride - and she loved them). It had been over twenty years since our previous rides - when our children were teens.
However today I enjoyed something much more exhilarating than a roller coaster ride. Our Lead Pastor and I were due to meet someone for lunch - and we were late. Jacob is known as an aggressive - make that fast - motorbike rider and has lived in Hanoi for 15 years. An excuse that he was running late was hardly needed for him to be the fastest (OK, to be honest, I think 2 bikes passed us, but we passed a hundred or more) moving object at noon in Hanoi.
Since I was riding on the back - and I trust his driving skill - it was a fun ride. No dividing lines between lanes or between two way traffic. The occasional lines are mostly ignored. Passing is allowed anytime there is an opening you want to take. Weaving into oncoming traffic in order to get around slow moving vehicles is not simply allowed, it is expected. What would be unspeakably rude in North American traffic is quite accepted. It was much more unpredictable and fun than your average roller coaster ride. Of course on a serious note, many more people die each year in Vietnam from motorbike rides than die all over the world, in a decade on roller coasters.
Anyway I was simply trusting today - trusting Jacob's driving skill. Trusting other drivers would not do anything that was totally unavoidable. When you get onto a roller coaster, you definitely put your trust in those who constructed and maintain it.
You may feel this week that your life is a little like a roller coaster - or a motorbike in Vietnam's capital city. Things in your life are moving too fast, or are suddenly unpredictable or ----. I hope today you are truly trusting the One who is in control and completely trustworthy!
(By the way I'vs just started reading "Ruthless Trust" by Brennan Manning (2000). Seems quite refreshing so far. His thesis: intellectual faith is not good enough, nor is mild heart faith. What a true disciple must have is faith that is ruthless - absolute trust in our loving Father God.)
However today I enjoyed something much more exhilarating than a roller coaster ride. Our Lead Pastor and I were due to meet someone for lunch - and we were late. Jacob is known as an aggressive - make that fast - motorbike rider and has lived in Hanoi for 15 years. An excuse that he was running late was hardly needed for him to be the fastest (OK, to be honest, I think 2 bikes passed us, but we passed a hundred or more) moving object at noon in Hanoi.
Since I was riding on the back - and I trust his driving skill - it was a fun ride. No dividing lines between lanes or between two way traffic. The occasional lines are mostly ignored. Passing is allowed anytime there is an opening you want to take. Weaving into oncoming traffic in order to get around slow moving vehicles is not simply allowed, it is expected. What would be unspeakably rude in North American traffic is quite accepted. It was much more unpredictable and fun than your average roller coaster ride. Of course on a serious note, many more people die each year in Vietnam from motorbike rides than die all over the world, in a decade on roller coasters.
Anyway I was simply trusting today - trusting Jacob's driving skill. Trusting other drivers would not do anything that was totally unavoidable. When you get onto a roller coaster, you definitely put your trust in those who constructed and maintain it.
You may feel this week that your life is a little like a roller coaster - or a motorbike in Vietnam's capital city. Things in your life are moving too fast, or are suddenly unpredictable or ----. I hope today you are truly trusting the One who is in control and completely trustworthy!
(By the way I'vs just started reading "Ruthless Trust" by Brennan Manning (2000). Seems quite refreshing so far. His thesis: intellectual faith is not good enough, nor is mild heart faith. What a true disciple must have is faith that is ruthless - absolute trust in our loving Father God.)
No comments:
Post a Comment