The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord. – Proverbs 21:31, KJV

I’m old enough to know better than to ride roller coasters at my age, but I just had to do it.

I just finished my first excursion at Carowinds Thrill Park in Fort Mill, SC with my family. We had a blast, but little did I know that before the day was over, a roller coaster would remind me of a tremendous spiritual truth.

I rode several coasters with the kids, but there was one that really stood out. The Intimidator, named after the late NASCAR racing legend Dale Earnhardt, Sr., is currently one of the tallest, fastest and longest roller coasters in the Southeastern United States.*  Of the many twists, turns, and drops on this slightly more than one mile long ride (5,316 feet, or 1,620 meters), the doozy drop is the first one: a +/- 211 foot fall at a 74 degree angle traveling nearly 80 mph!* Since I’m not too fond of heights, it is safe to say that I was scared senseless. I guess that’s why I rode it twice!

During my second go-round on the Intimidator, I saw my daughter doing what several other riders were doing. She was riding with her hands high in the air.  Every time we dropped, we lifted off of the seats.  Of course, the restraints kept us from flying off into the abyss, but I wasn’t about to put my trust in them like my daughter did. I had to keep myself from flying away; I had to rely on my own strength by clinging to the restraint for dear life!

Not long after we departed the ride, it dawned on me that I was doing on that coaster what I and most other Christians do every day in our lives. I was foolishly trusting in my own strength to keep me safe.  In truth, if that restraint had disengaged, I wouldn’t be writing this post. There is no way I could have, in my own strength, kept myself from being flung to my death. My daughter, on the other hand, completely abandoned her power and trusted in the restraint to keep her safe – a wonderful picture of how we ought to completely abandon ourselves and rely on God to carry us through this life.

As Proverbs 21:31 (KJV) reminds us, “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord.” Or, as the Amplified Bible reads, “deliverance and victory are of the Lord.” Although we do have an obligation to prepare for the battles of this life (See Ephesians 6:11-18), victory in this life is not something we can achieve on our own. We must abandon self-reliance in favor of God-dependence, and when we do, the ride of this life will be filled with heart peace and joy, no matter what our outward circumstances might be.

Indeed, it is amazing what you can learn while falling 211 feet at 80 mph.

* Source: Wikipedia. Click here to see the Wikipedia entry for The Intimidator.

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