Wondering When This Roller Coaster Will End?

The Tail of the Dragon is one of those highways that motorcycle enthusiasts love to ride. This highway is in North Carolina and it has 318 curves in 11 miles.  You can read all about it on the internet, but I can tell you it’s true because I’ve experienced it on the back of a Goldwing!  Before we traveled east with friends, my daughters said I couldn’t do that road, so of course I had to! I sent them both postcards from the store at the end of the run.

I’d like to tell you it was awesome, but from my viewpoint, it was harrowing! You literally meet yourself coming and going. It’s up an incline turn back on a hairpin curve and back again over and over and over.  There’s also regular traffic coming and going. You meet vehicles on your side of the road because the curves are so narrow. You’ll probably also see sites where bikers didn’t make a curve. I kept my eyes closed most of the time and hugged as close as possible to my husband as he traversed the snaky miles with delight.  I prefer smooth roads with sweeping turns occasionally.  Not my hubby, he likes the curves. I can tell you that after riding a motorcycle with him for 41 years (dating on motorcycles included) I have never ridden with anyone else on a motorcycle and I trust him completely. He’s never let me down.  There have been times I’ve not handled the ride well at all, but he still keeps inviting me to ride with him.  He has proved himself as trustworthy and I know I’m safe with him always. He takes good care of me on the ride, whether it’s easy roads or hard.  I wouldn’t always choose the roads he chooses, but I trust him so I go with him.

For the most part life can be pretty calm. We travel through the ins and outs and make pretty good time. We look ahead and the view is lovely and there are hardly any curves at all. Other times we are given a harder road to travel. Twisties and mountains intertwine and without some relief, we are ready to quit. We try our best to close our eyes in the hard times but it doesn’t help.  We can’t see that the road will smooth out ahead because we’re in the middle of the hard part, so that’s all we can concentrate on.

Are you in a hard place of life right now? Are you wondering when this roller coaster is going to end? You went to bed tired and needy and you woke up with no relief in sight. Weariness has settled in and you just don’t think you can keep going. You wish you could go back to the easy days of carefree living and calm roads. Now you’re stuck – it’s harrowing and you see no end.

Oh beloved, quit looking at the curves and the mountains and the terrain! Don’t stare at the drop offs and the cliffs! Look rather at the One who is carrying you through it all. God is with you! He is not only allowing you to go through the hard roads, He is the One who is seeing you through to the other side! It’s only a short ride, but you’ve grown tired. Lean on Him! He’s trustworthy and true – He will prove Himself capable again and again. Trust Him! He loves you. Seek His face only! He’s for you.  You may never get to the end of the ride and say that was great, but you will say You got me through!

God is with you, even when you seem to be alone. God is carrying you, even when you feel you’ve got to traverse the mountains of adversity, sorrow or fear alone.  You are never alone, beloved, and the hard roads never last forever. Rejoice in Him! Hang on to Him! He’ll never leave you or forsake you, He’ll never let you down.  You can trust Him always, for His name is Love and His character is your security. Rely on others, you might not make it. Rely on yourself and it won’t go well. But rely on the Lord and you’ll always be safe! Don’t get your eyes of the Savior for He’s never taken His eyes off of you.

Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.

Psalm 48:14 For that is what God is like. He is our God forever and ever, and he will guide us until we die.

Psalm 121:1, 8  I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

I Corinthians 1:9 God will do this, for He is faithful to do what He says, and He has invited you into partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.