Finding the right gear

She was older, at least 65, and she was completely beside herself with humiliation and anger. The car she was in was an older Ford Topaz and it was stopped in the middle of the road when I came upon the scene. There were 4 other vehicles stopped and waiting for this lady to move out of the way so they could take the corner and be on their marry way. I decided waiting was not in my best interests so I cut around the line, drove partly in the ditch passing all the other vehicles on their drivers side. As I passed the stalled vehicle I could see that the women behind the wheel was truly petrified. The road was very steep and she couldn't get the car to move. The only thing that she could think to do was press the brake pedal to the floor and keep it there. I took my daughter home and returned only to find the same situation. No one had come to her rescue.
I asked her to apply the parking brake but it didn't work. Whenever she would take her foot off the brake pedal the car would quickly begin rolling backwards down the hill. And every time she tried to move forward the car would stall. The smell of an over worked clutch and a hot engine was unmistakable. We finally got her out of the car by shutting it down. I slid into her seat, put the car into first gear and drove up and around the corner to a level spot in the road. She was extremely grateful and as it turned out she was a few hundred feet from her destination.

Sometimes something so simple as using the right gear to start with can make the difference between moving forward, stalling or worse, rolling backwards uncontrollably down a steep hill. We try over and over, doing the same things the same way but somehow expecting different results. Our level of frustration grows, our anger deepens and we feel so humiliated. When all the while what we really need is someone who can drive well to slide in behind the wheel and get us moving in the right direction. We need to stop striving and start trusting another. We give up the wheel to another who will help us get to our destination. There is no better driver to trust than the Lord Jesus Christ. It is time to slide out from behind the wheel of your life and to trust him with it.