IT’S A ROLLER COASTER LIFE! — November 1, 2010 by Jewels A. Staiger

A Wo-Man’s Voice

Just this year, my husband and I along with my parents and our nine-year old triplets went on Vacation.
We’ve been planning for years to take a trip to Florida and go to Disney World, and then to St. Augustine.  The trip was all we ever hoped and dreamed it would be and more! 

Although I had been to both places in the past, my husband or children had never been to either, and so Mom and Dad and I were excited to show them everything for the first time!  I was never much of a roller-coaster rider, nor was my mom.  Whenever we went to an Amusement Park when I was young, my mom and I would either find another ride sneak an ice-cream cone while my dad and brothers rode the ‘coasters!’

However, I’ve gotten a little more daring the older I get, and during this years BIG Vacation, I decided to throw caution to the wind, and ride everything I could possibly ride in order to make it the best time ever for my children!  Although I was sore in the days to follow, I rode Mt. Everest (Animal Kingdom) and of course Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom) and any other ride my kids wanted to ride, I loved every minute of it!
I could remember going as a kid, and how special it was to me.  I wanted my kids to have the best memories from this trip.  I even started to throw my hands in the air and “free-fall’ with the ‘coasters!’

Some say life is like a Roller Coaster.  We have ups and downs, twists, and turns.  Sometimes we want to scream our heads off, and other times we want to laugh right out loud at the joy of it all!  Sometimes, we raise our arms up high and just let life carry us away!  Then there are other times that we close our eyes and hold on for dear life, fearing what may be coming next. Occasionally, the craziest things happen to turn us completely upside down and we fear that we may be sick from it all, or Heaven forbid, someone nearby may become sick ON us!

However, through the entire roller coaster of life, God already knows what is coming next.  He is the track that never fails.  He will never break under pressure, or weaken over time.
He does not get rusty, or need repaired.  He’s there when we get sick, and is willing to  shield us from  others who tend to ‘spew’ on us through life.  And He s able to do it all without any operators manning the gates.  Just Him.

When I’m standing in line waiting for the next adventure He has laid out for me, the only instructions I want to hear are His!  I want to be sure that I am sitting in the exact seat that He has made for me, the seat with my name written on it! 
It is HIS track I want to be stuck to through the twists and turns and curves of life with the shear force of His love!  I know that no matter what the next turn brings, that I will make it through as long as I follow the instructions that He is laid out for me. 

However, there are times, that on this ‘crazy coaster of life’ that we need the help of each other too.  I know that when I’m going through a tough time that God will sustain me and be there for me, but I also know that He sometimes sends brothers and sisters in Christ to us to help us through our times of need.

It’s like the story in the Bible, Exodus 17:8-16 when God told Moses to go to war with another group of people called the Amalekites (take some time to read this in your Bible today). They were an evil group of nomads who killed just for pleasure – terrorists of the day.

When Moses went to the top of a hill were his people could see him and rose up his staff toward Heaven they did OK fighting against the terrorists! However, whenever his arms got tired and he lowered his staff then they started to lose the fight! Finally! Moses’ brother Aaron and his brother-in-law Hur caught on to what was happening, and they held his arms up for him! They supported him when he could no longer support himself! They held him up and in doing so, the Israelites won the fight!
Can you imagine how excited those three men became when they realized what they had accomplished together, with God?  I am sure that there was some Whoopin’ and Cheerin’ going on, on top of that mountain!

I know that there have been times, most recently even, when I have lost all strength in my arms.  When I have wanted to put my arms down, close my eyes and hold on white knuckled for dear life.  There have been times, even recently when the jarring flip of life made me literally ill and aching all over from what I just went through.  I’ve wanted to jump the track and get off for a while!
Haven’t you felt like that before?  Don’t you just want to quit sometimes?  “This isn’t fun anymore,” we scream to God,  “Could You please get me off this ride?”

You feel like if there is one more sharp turn, jerky movement, or God-forbid a double loop-d-loop, you will lay right down and die……………

Then it happens, and you feel them on either side of you.  Those sisters that you did not realize where there before because you were too worried about your predicament to see anything else.  Or on the other hand, maybe new friends that came into your life just in the knick of time!  Either way, God has heard your cry, and sent you some reinforcements.  They gently take your arms and lift them for you!  At first, you are not quite feeling the same joy you see on their faces, and you wonder why they even bother!  “Why are you even here?” you say, “I can handle this on my own, really.  I was just having a moment of weakness.”  Because as women, we hate to admit defeat.  At least I know I do.  We tend to be so strong for everyone else, that we are too hard on ourselves for not being able to handle our own troubles.

Then you hear a Gentle Whisper, as the Breath of God not only calms you down, but  spiritually lifts you up!  “Raise them high!” He says, and you start to feel your strength again.

Your friends begin to shout encouragement to you while they hold onto your arms; you have your own little cheering section.

You start to feel a little more like yourself again.  A little more like that, Princess of the King that you so easily let go of!

Then just when you see that, you are reaching the most treacherous part of the ‘Life-Coaster,’ you free your arms from your friends and encourage them to put their own in the air!  You may still be a little scared, but at the same time you know that you need to spend some time with your Heavenly Father!

You reach as high as you can all the while crying “Father! Carry Me! I cannot do this alone! I cannot bear what comes next! But I know you sent me these friends, and I know you have great plans for me!”

You pray and praise, and spend time with Him with your arms outstretched and then you notice something.  While you were flying through that horrible part of the coaster immersed in His presence, something happened!  Something so amazing that it takes you a moment to realize that you just experienced a miracle.

The things that looked so scary and overwhelming are already past!  God took care of them seemingly while you were not looking! 

Now you are flying free, and enjoying the ‘Coaster’ more today than you did yesterday.  And always, when you come back around to that point and someone else’s arms are not raised, you can now go to them, lift up their arms for them and stand strong for them, because……………….you were there once!

2 Corinthians 1:3-5
(The Message)
“All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah!  Father of all mercy!  God of all healing counsel!  He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.  We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort – we get a full measure of that too!”
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Thanks so much Jewels for sharing your family trip to Florida and for using the Roller Coaster to demonstrate how God works in our lives.

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