“For I hold you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ’Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.” (Isaiah 41:13 NLT)
It’s Monday, so I will try my best to meet the “Monday Short” meditation target, but I’m not promising that I will accomplish my “not many words” goal, for the Lord is the guide who determines and dictates what I write. Read on! During the summer months, people flock to amusement parks, state and county fairs, as well as special event festivals. The former has fixed rides, where the latter types have mobile rides, rides that travel from place to place. I always thought the mobile rides were more dangerous. I did some investigation and found this tidbit: “A report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)—who has jurisdiction over mobile rides—for the years of 1987 to 1999 actually suggests “fixed rides,” like you’d find at an amusement park, saw more injuries over the course of a year than mobile rides. In 1999, for example, fixed rides saw about 7,000 emergency room-treated injuries (23.5 injuries per million attendance), while mobile rides saw around 3,000. But considering the fact mobile rides are only around during the summer months, or less than half the year, it seems they’re at least just as dangerous—if not more so.” That last sentence in the report only served to tell me that most rides can be at the same level when it comes to being dangerous. More importantly, it made me think how we should check out the ride operator!
Now I am not trying to steer you away from your plans to go to an amusement park with its advertised thrilling rides, surrounded by swirling long lines. I am not trying to deter you from going to the local fair that comes to your town or county or have your skip your village festival. All I really want to say about rides is to take all the safety precautions you should take on various fixed rides and more seasonal mobile rides. In both cases, do a little bit of observation, checking out how safe the ride sounds, looks, and most importantly, as I said above, check out the ride operator. Yes, pay attention to how diligent the person overseeing, managing the operation of the ride seems to be in his or her duty, Make sure the operator in charge is functioning like he/she cares about you and check and see if he/she does not look at his job as just temporary and does not really or sincerely care about you. You don’t want an operator who is just doing a job and you definitely don’t want an operator who gets his or her thrills from aggravating your experience on the ride purposely, as he/she takes control over the ride. You have seen those type of operators before. I’m sure you have. And they seem to be delighted in messing with you or causing you to teeter on the edge of danger and disaster.
Okay, so this Monday Short is not as short as usual, but before I stop writing, I must share some good news with you, some reassuring news. In regard to the person operating your ride through life, if that Person is the Lord our God, He not only knows what He is doing; He not only is the best operator one could put their trust in! It is more than that! He truly, really, definitely cares about you and He will safely see you through the twist and turns, as wells as the ups and downs on your ride through life. But here is a caution! If you choose to ride through life with just any ride operator running the show, you could end up jeopardizing your safety and the consequences will not be pretty or preferred. Therefore, as you continue your ride through life, this week, make sure God is in your Operator every single day and in every single place you go, regardless of the season of life that you are going through, regardless of your situation. There is one more caution: Be especially careful during the remaining summer weeks when you will be lured to riding through life carefree and you will be tempted to do less checking out of the ride operator in charge of managing your ride. Be safe! Have a good start to your week. Put yourself in the hand of the best Operator ever, the Lord our God! Be blessed!
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10 NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King