Leaving skid marks

Beth Moore writes:

"Life shouldn't be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly shouting, 'Wow! What a ride! Thank you, Lord!'"

Already someone is reading that and thinking, "This is wrong. Ms. Moore is obviously after sensationalism. The Bible says to 'aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands . . .'" (1 Thessalonians 4:11).

Personally, I don't think the Texas Bible teacher is chasing after these skids and broadsides. I know something of her life, and she just wanted to live quietly and mind her own affairs. The "problem" is that she loves and believes God so much, so like an enthusiastic child, that God keeps bringing her into these "situations."

I don't think God has a "thing" for Beth Moore that He doesn't have for you and me. If God has a "thing," it's for faith. He can use it. He gets glory from it.

The idea of the Christian life as "a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely" puts it a little crassly (thanks, Beth, we needed that). But I can testify that I lived for decades after conversion in a long, shoreless plateau-venturing little, expecting little, treading water, putting all my expectations in the "not yet" eschaton.

You will find that the minute you start operating in a little bit of faith, you don't have to chase after the demolition derby ride; it comes after you. Here you are, a well-respected rabbi somewhere in the Middle East, and next thing you know you are being whipped, stoned, shipwrecked, starved, naked, and let down from a city wall in a basket (2 Corinthians 11:23-33).

Or worse yet, you are walking the streets of Jerusalem, not breaking a bruised reed, telling about God's love, and you find yourself nailed to a wooden crossbar and deserted by everyone. Talk about skid and broadside.

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