The Way We Race
I grew up in a family that admires the engineering art of speed and horsepower. I’ve been to countless car shows, race events, driving experiences, car museums, and road trips. So it was a quick decision for me, my dad, and two brothers to take the opportunity to go to Atlanta, Georgia, for the Porsche Driving Experience. When we arrived, we were each assigned a driving instructor, strapped into a new Porsche 911, and hit several driving stages designed to teach us core principles of driving. We learned how to recover the car from a slide in wet conditions, how to shift the weight of the car properly through high-speed corners, how to drift, and how to trust the car’s acceleration and braking systems. The final stage was to take the Porsche around the outer track and put to the test all that we had learned.
My instructor was a retired race car professional, so I was all ears as he coached me through every stage of the track. He reminded me of the principles I had learned earlier that day, encouraged me when I was doing well, and warned me when I was in danger. I noticed that as the laps went on, he was getting quieter and quieter until he wasn’t saying anything at all. Almost as if he could hear my nerves, he said, “I am getting quieter, that is good. That means you need less of my instruction. You are doing well.” I immediately heard my Heavenly Father’s voice in those words. Allow me to explain.
“Trust the truth and the pace of truth, and be faithful to the lesson right in front of you. He is the Master instructor, and He knows what He is teaching and the order in which He is teaching it. ”
I have had several conversations with Christians around this principle. New followers of Jesus have dramatic encounters with God, the Scriptures are vibrant and alive with revelation, and they hear God speak to them personally every day! They are quickly changing and filled with the awe of how liberating truth really can be. After a while, it seems like the Lord’s voice gets quiet, and the new believer begins to misinterpret the silence as God is distant or even disappointed. Many new believers begin to get nervous and overreact into fear. The enemy takes advantage of the panic and spins a lie that makes a new believer doubt their salvation or think that there isn’t anything more to God. All the while, the reason for the silence was that the Lord was admiring how well His new child was doing, and the Father was simply allowing them to enjoy the peace and stability that the truth had produced in their life. This is an unfortunate error, and its root is in unbelief. We have several promises that God will speak and lead us as His children. Therefore, we can trust God in every season when we are being faithful to what He has shown us thus far.
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:13 NKJV)
Before my race experience was complete, there was one more thing the Lord was going to show me through this experience. Near the end, my Porsche Driving Instructor said, “We have a couple minutes left, would you like me to get in the driver seat?” I was thrilled at the offer. Of course, I wanted to see how the expert would go through the course, and we switched seats, and he took the steering wheel. The instructor rolled onto the track with me now in the passenger seat. The lap around the track was exhilarating! He slammed through every gear and hammered the brakes harder than I could’ve ever imagined! He cut through every corner and didn’t miss a single line; the car was right on the edge of its tire’s capabilities. I held on to the door grab handle with both joy and terror! I had no idea that the car was engineered for so much speed and demand.
At the end of the lap, I caught my breath, turned to the instructor, and said, “I wish I could have gone through that at the beginning of the day so I would have realized what was possible!” The instructor wisely responded, “No sir, we do this at the end on purpose. If you knew first what the car was capable of but didn’t understand the principles that keep you safe, you would wreck the car or kill yourself driving out of control.” I again heard the voice of my Father in Heaven.
We must trust the order in which God teaches us things, knowing that He will give us the principles we need to run the race that He has set before us. We must not be too ambitious for more responsibility too soon when we haven’t been faithful to the first steps that He has put right in front of us. Trust the truth and the pace of truth, and be faithful to the lesson right in front of you. He is the Master instructor, and He knows what He is teaching and the order in which He is teaching it.
I walked off the race track a little wiser that day, having learned how to drive and run my race with Jesus a little better. I hope this will also help you stay the course, trust the timing of God’s voice, and realize that the quiet seasons with God are often the Lord smiling over you, proud of the man or woman of God you have become. Run your race, and be faithful to all He has taught you.
“I have fought the good (worthy, honorable, and noble) fight, I have finished the race, I have kept (firmly held) the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7 AMPC)
By Joseph E.O. Mead