Changing Gears

One constant in life is that it’s always changing.  As kids, we can’t wait to become adults to finally have control over our lives.  We hold certainty that everything will be exactly how we want it once we’re grown.  The reality is quite the opposite, though, and the unexpected inevitably happens.

When I was a teenager, my mom drove a Mazda GLC hatchback.  It was a five-speed manual, and the color of grass, lime, and olive blended into an unsuspecting shade of green that was far off the color spectrum.  We lived on a farm, out in the country, where the roads were long and flat.  However, one particular hill in the middle of town was short, straight up, almost completely perpendicular, and that is where my mom took me to learn a straight drive.  She said if I could master getting the car to take off while going uphill, I’d be able to drive it anywhere.  I was petrified!  I’d sat in the passenger seat on more than one occasion while on a hill and felt the slight drift backward while taking off and wanted no part of it.  She made me get behind the wheel, though.  She reassured me that the car would in fact roll back but to just hit the brake and it’d be fine.  After numerous failed attempts and rolling all the way to the very bottom, I was finally able to release the clutch and press the gas with the exact timing needed to propel the car forward and up the hill.  Once perched at the top, I felt like David who’d just single-handedly defeated Goliath.

On the day when I obtained my license, I couldn’t wait to drive and be in complete control all by myself.  I had to go somewhere.  Anywhere.  My mom gave me permission to drive to the grocery store for a gallon of milk.  Yes!  Mission in hand, I set out with REO Speedwagon blaring from the dashboard and joy bursting from within.  In that moment, life couldn’t have been more perfect.  That is, until the unexpected happened, and these shiny, blue lights began to flash in my rearview mirror.  The direct path from our house to the grocery store was a short distance, with only two minor turns.  Because I wanted to make the adventure last as long as I could, I opted for the lengthy route through downtown.  While that hill had actually helped me learn to take off, it hadn’t fully equipped me to change gears and, after watching my car choke out, clamor, and boggle to move forward, the officer pulled me over as suspect of being a drunk driver.  I was in tears.  I couldn’t believe he thought I was drunk!  Through my sniveling and sobbing, I explained to him that I was a new driver who was still learning to manage a stick shift.  His rugged voice echoed in my mind for a long time to come: “You’re free to go but do me a favor and stay on the back roads until you learn to change gears.”

How often do we find ourselves struggling to change gears in life?  Hit hard and knocked down by the unexpected.  Life is full of moments outside our control and in ways for which we aren’t prepared.  The sudden death of a loved one, the ending of a marriage, addiction that’s stolen our child, the loss of a job, or a devastating medical diagnosis.  The fact of the matter is, there are numerous times in which we can find ourselves dealing with the unexpected, and no matter how much we grind, push, and shove, we just can’t seem to move forward from the tailspin of fear, hurt, and confusion.  However, have you ever stopped to consider that, while those are times we didn’t expect, God fully did?  That, just maybe, they’re part of His design?  It’s during those events that we learn to trust and depend on Him unlike ever before, and there’s possibly no one who knew that reality better than Job did.

After I re-read the book of Job, one thing stood out for me that hadn’t before.  While I clearly understood the message of his story and recognized it as one of unprecedented faith and remarkable recovery, one specific word was prominent this time—allowed.  The Bible reads that God allowed Satan to torment Job, but not to take his life.  That one small, yet profound, word communicates that God was in control the entire time.  Consider what it means to allow something.  I allow my children to stay up past their bedtime.  I allow someone to borrow money.  The company I work for allows me to take time off, or the airline allows me to check one bag for free.  You can’t allow something over which you don’t already have ownership or control.  Garnering this understanding led me to think through the many unexpected challenges of my life, and the way I’d questioned God about what I’d endured as if He was unaware of them Himself.  The truth is that, not only was He aware of them, but He allowed them.  And if He allowed them, then He was fully in control of everything during them, exactly as He was with Job.  Every single instance that Job experienced was unexpected to him, but not to God.

During those uninvited times in our lives, we must comprehend that even though we suffer or struggle, we are still protected, just as Job was.  Proverbs 16:9 (NIV) says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”  Think about that.  If He establishes our steps, then nothing that occurs in our lives is unknown or unexpected to Him—only to us.  He knows what lies ahead, and He is completely in control, even when we are filled with uncertainty.  Granted, God’s control doesn’t mean we won’t experience heartache and pain.  We most certainly can, as Job did.  James 1:5 (NIV) says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  We often face the unexpected with a lack of wisdom and clarity about the right path forward.  But James tells us that we need only ask God for wisdom, and He will abundantly provide it without pointing out our mistakes or weaknesses.  How extremely comforting and reassuring that is, and similar to what that officer did with me.  He didn’t tell me I shouldn’t have gone the way that I did, and he didn’t scold me for my incompetence with a five-speed.  Instead, he generously let me go and simply guided me on the right path.

It is our actions that dictate what happens to the car.  Whether we are changing down gear to go up a hill or changing up gear to gain speed, the process of changing gears forces the transmission to adjust to move the car.  Failure to change gears will end up where I was that day—with the car choking out, clamoring, and boggling to move forward.  Much is the same with life.  The only way to keep moving forward is to continually gear up.  Finding our way out of the fear, hurt, and confusion of the unexpected requires us to rely on God to shift all the way up through the gears to get there.

The good news, though, is that while we may not be in control of the situation, God fully is.  If you find yourself there today, stuck in not understanding the unforeseen situation you’re in—and you’re choking out, clamoring, and boggling to move forward—rest assured that while it may be unexpected to you, it is far from blindsiding God.  He has established your steps and knows exactly what lies ahead, so rest in the reminder that He is near, fully in control, and protecting you every step of the way—just as He did with Job.  Seeking His guidance lets you navigate the unexpected with confidence, knowing with certainty that His great and mighty hand is overtop of yours, holding you as you shift up and through the gears until you reach where you’re meant to be.  May your faith be strengthened, and your heart be filled with hope as He moves with you through life’s many changing gears.