It is true that most Americans cringe at the sound of the word 'restraint'. It is one of those words that make us feel like we are being robbed of our basic right to freedom. This last summer I had an experience that truly brought new meaning to this word 'restraint'. My wife and I took a camping trip with our three daughters to the infamous amusement park of Indiana Beach. There we would discover a roller coaster that my daughters would ride over 40 times, called the 'Steel Hawg'. It is a coaster that is thirty seconds full of corkscrews, upside down loops, inverted falls, and other various turns that caused your organs to shift to one side of your body before instantly being jolted to the other side. After only two times my girls fell in love with this ride, so we rode it until the park closed. While waiting in line we noticed that they stopped a cart on the coaster because one of the women in the cart wanted to get out. As she passed us she kept saying, "I can't do it, I just can't do it." What could she not do that would cause her to miss this exciting experience? She could not get herself to trust the safety restraints that would keep her in the cart. Even though these restraints were keeping people in their seats and keeping them safe all day, she could not take the risk that she to would be protected. So she missed a great experience.
Psalms 119:93 "I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life."
More than any other people on earth, Christians should know what it means to have abundant life. Life is full of all kinds of experiences that at times seem like we are hanging upside down or being put through a corkscrew turn. Yet we can live without fear when we allow God's restraints, precepts, to protect us from falling out of the cart. We have been given and live by principles that have been established since the beginning of time. They are true and will never fail. There are some that believe that God protects other people but think God would not show them the same favor. Yet it is our submission to do what God says, not so much who we are, that gives us His protection. When we allow ourselves to submit to the principles, precepts, and commands of God we are allowing these restraints to give us an unimaginable freedom to experience true life.
Imagine for a moment an amusement park with roller coasters that did not believe in using safety restraints. It would be no surprise to see and hear about people being thrown from the cart falling to their demise. Yet we try to live life without the eternal safety restraints put in place by God. Trust the commands(restraints) of God to protect you especially in the times we live in. All that this world is putting their trust in is falling apart. They don't know who or what to trust, and that is breeding an atmosphere of hopelessness. Can I tell you that as we go through these times we can always have hope and peace because God does not change and He is still in control. Though you walk through all kinds of troubles do not fear because God will be with you and His precepts will guard and protect you.
Pastor James Biffert
Bethel
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