NEUTRAL
So, let me tell you about my first time behind the wheel.
I was fourteen and my Mom was taking forever to leave church so I decided instead of milling around the lobby for the next hour I was going to wait in the car. Only instead of getting in the passengers side I climbed in the drivers seat.
Now you know how things are when you are bored. I waited in the car for a while and then I started looking around. I fiddled with the change in the front cup holder, dusted off the dashboard and then something caught my eye: the gear shift.
I glanced in the rear view mirror.
No one was coming.
I slowly pushed in the button and the car slid into neutral. Then everything happened at once: Neutral, hill, momentum and tree.
Neutral.
It's a place where movement can begin.
There was another time in my life when I discovered the power of "neutral". I was in Bible school and just weeks away from graduation. The only problem was I had NO IDEA what to do next and I was terrified that I would make the wrong move and end up ruining my life.
My director pulled me aside and asked me if I had any plans for next year. I kind of just shrugged my shoulders and looked at the floor. What do you say when you have no idea what to do? "Yes. I plan to change the world. How? Ummm, I have no idea." The problem was I wanted to do something big for God but I was so scared I would screw it up I couldn't even make a move. I think the answer I finally gave him was something like, "No…not really."
Then he asked me this, "What would you like to do?" This question kind of took me off guard because it seemed so simple and everything I was going through in trying to decide what to do seemed so hard. I thought he would say something way more spiritual like, "Have you fasted and prayed?" or "You need to follow the 41 steps to hearing the voice of God." But no, so simple… “what would you like to?”
I told him, " I'd like to go live overseas."
"Who do you know that lives overseas?"
I told him the names of some family friends that lived in Prague.
His advice? Put it in neutral. "God can't steer a parked car." He told me, "if you put your life in neutral God can direct where you are going."
So that's what I did, I put it in neutral. I shook fear off and got my foot off the brakes. I called Prague. I talked to my friends that lived there. I priced out airline tickets. I started fundraising. Each small step built confidence in my heart that this was what I was supposed to do. It was just four months later that I stepped off the jet way and got my first official passport stamp in Europe.
Isaiah 30: 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."
I love this scripture. When I am trying to make a tough decision in life, this is the scripture that I cling to.
It's like "neutral" in a nutshell. Take the brakes off. Shift into gear. Slowly allow your life to move in the direction you feel like God is leading you, and let Him steer you. As you make forward motion- God can show you where to go. It's when you have your life in park and your foot on the brakes that He can't even budge you.
You may be faced with tough decisions in life right now. What should I do with my life? Which college should I go to? Should I move across the country and take that job?
Put your life in neutral. Don't slam on the brakes or recklessly speed off by going full throttle on the gas.
Begin to make small steps.
Listen to his still small voice.
"THIS is the way, walk in it."
Trust that He will lead you.
SUBMERGE
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