Roller Coaster

This week of Vacation Bible School has had an emphasis on roller coasters. The theme is Colossal Coaster World, and we were able to have roller coaster tracks going across our stage.

All this talk about roller coasters made me think about how they can be a microcosm of life. Sometimes we are upside down. Humans are meant to stand on our feet, and when we go upside down on a roller coaster it is a foreign feeling to us.

We go through times in life where we feel upside down—when nothing makes sense and we feel disoriented.

But there are also parts of the ride where everything is downhill. After hitting a high point the roller coaster begins to accelerate back down, causing a major rush.

Life is full of ups and downs. After being upside down for a while we end up going downhill again and life calms down.

But the thing about roller coasters that stands out to me the most is the unknown. My favorite ride was always Space Mountain at Disney. This is such a fun ride because it is totally dark and no one can see what is going to happen next. There is nothing to do except hold on and enjoy the ride.

And that is the best way to live life. We don’t know what is up ahead, but instead of being afraid of it, we can hold on and trust God. On a roller coaster nothing happens that wasn’t thought out by the designer, and in life nothing happens that wasn’t planned by our Designer.

So instead of spending (or wasting) your life being afraid, just hold on and trust God. Remember, that fear didn’t come from God, but from our enemy. Let me leave you with our VBS theme verse, 2 Timothy 1:7:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”