Drive Through It
by: Lori Doner Jones
Over the past summer I spent most of my time in this little gazebo tent in my backyard. My husband started to call it my gazebonacle, because this is where I started each day, and where I ended up at the end of the day, looking for what God had to tell me. One such day my thoughts turned to this phrase: “You can drive through it....”
It’s a line from a movie– which I haven’t seen or even thought of in years, and yet on this summer morning, out of nowhere came those words....”You can drive through it” and I knew what it meant... I knew that’s what I had been waiting to hear.
Now, I am not saying God speaks to me through action movies, but I think He does guide my thoughts to silly anecdotes to write devotionals about, and it’s through thinking and writing these, that I can lean in to what God is trying to show me and teach me.
I think sometimes life feels a bit like a racetrack, where I am racing towards something or some result, and everyone else is rushing around me. It’s busy, chaotic, and filled with noise and danger, maybe some pain and hardship, and sometimes, I feel a bit out of control.
As a teenager, I was a big Tom Cruise fan and in the 90’s he made a movie called “Days of Thunder” where he’s a racecar driver. The story goes something like this - he’s a thrill-seeking guy who really knows nothing about cars, but he can drive, and he gets partnered with a veteran racing personality that is put in place to manage and take care of the car. Played by Robert Duvall, “Harry” doesn’t like Cole Trickle (Cruise’s character) at all in the beginning, but quite predictably, he evolves into a mentor for the young racer. They grow in fondness for each other and there’s a sense of trust that develops between the two unlikely partners. Cole ends up in an accident about midway through the movie which gives him a sense of trepidation about his job – maybe makes him feel the danger a little more than before, and makes him nervous. In the last race, the one Cole has been working toward the whole season, this fear climaxes. About midway through the race, an accident happens on the track. You can hear Harry in his earpiece instructing him: “there’s an accident on turn 3, there’s cars spinning down the track.... There’s oil at the bottom - You have to go high....” Harry has a view of the road ahead that Cole can’t see. He’s in his ear telling him how to navigate the danger ahead, he’s trying to lead him away from trouble and trying to guide him. But Cole can’t hear him. Harry is very concerned about Cole, as the cars spin around him and Cole stops interaction entirely on the headset.
Cole goes silent, his fear rushes in and he’s deep inside his own mind, circulating around in his uncertainty,
paralyzed by fear; all he can see ahead is smoke and chaos, mixed with flashbacks of his previous accident. He can’t see for himself where to go, or what moves to make. His view is obstructed, and he’s painfully aware that one wrong move could cost him everything. He’s afraid...he’s been here before....he’s gripped by fear and uncertainty. In his earpiece he hears Harry calling to him, urging him to come out of his trance-like state, and saying this: “You can drive through it.... Cole.... I know it in my heart, you can drive through it, ”
And so, the decision becomes can Cole trust that voice in his ear?
Can he trust that Harry can see what he cannot. Can he put his life in Harry’s hands...Can he drive through it?
I feel like these are the words God gave me that day in the gazebonacle. “You can drive through it....”
In that moment, on that day, all I could see was smoke and the unknown – it felt like I was speeding out of control, and there it was... a voice in my ear saying – “You can drive through it.....” You don’t need to see the other side right now.... Drive through....”
In times like that, when we are faced with life’s hardships, and we are smack dab in the middle of something that has gripped our heart, I think there’s part of us that wants to stop and examine all the wreckage. We are tempted to stop on the track and make sure we see every twisted bloody piece; take a mental inventory of every artifact and broken fragment laying on the track of our brokenness. We want to ask “why”. We want God to explain it to us, rather than guide us through. We want to wallow in the destruction, rather than speed by without a second glance and keep moving, when we know that's the safest thing to do. We want to see through the smoke, and see the all answers, when often God’s plan does not include answers today – or maybe not for a long time. Cole, in a split second decision trusts in Harry, and punches the gas, taking the outside wall, drives into the smoke and danger and through to his victory. One second of indecision, potentially changes the outcome. If he hit the brakes instead of the gas, maybe he crashes. If he stops to look, he probably dies.... But instead he trusts in Harry. He’s at a precipice moment – the moment where he needs to choose fear - or faith. Of course, it’s a movie and real life isn’t quite so exciting. In real life the moment doesn't always end promptly in joyful victory.
But we still have those precipice moments, don’t we? Moments, where we have to choose to keep going, to keep in the race, to persevere, and maybe moments where we need to start over entirely. Maybe those moments of starting over for you feel like a lot like an impending destruction. In these moments we cannot predict or control the outcome – they simply require us to "let go, and let God",,,
God never said following Him would be safe.
He never promised us a life without chaos, smoke and danger. In fact, He promises that as believers, life might feel a whole lot like being on a dangerous racetrack. But when we face life’s troubles, we can drive through it, because if we are listening, He will be in our ear, guiding us through the wreckage, through the smoke, and the things we cannot see, and cannot understand. He doesn’t always clear our path for us, but He helps us navigate it, and we can trust Him. Even if the moment doesn't end immediately in victory, He assures us that our triumph IS coming. The race isn't over yet and all I personally want, is to finish well.
I can drive through it... and so can you.
Lori Doner Jones leads the Women’s Ministry at Springvale Church, and is the founder of REVIVE. REVIVE challenges women to seek God with determined purpose by being a space of opportunity and encouragement for women who are called to teach and speak. Lori is a wife of almost 21 years and mother to two sweet daughters.
Learn more about REVIVE, access its devotionals, or view its current video series here: www.readyforrevival.ca.