Have you ever felt paralyzed?
I will never forget learning to drive a stick shift. This shouldn’t have been hard. After all my dad was a car dealer. I thought that I knew everything about how to operate a vehicle!
But this day, I found myself stuck on a hill, paralyzed at a red light, and a line of people behind me. A stick shift on neighborhood streets had been easy, but this was different and I panicked. What if I rolled backwards and hit another car?
To drive a stick shift, you have to find the sweet spot between the clutch, accelerator and release of the brake. That micro second timing is how the car is able to move forward. A new driver will often stall when the sweet spot is missed.
There are times in life where we also feel paralyzed, overtaken by thoughts or circumstances; we are rendered immobile, and forget that Christ is our sweet spot.
In my panic, I needed encouragement, someone to talk me through, but instead I froze, shifted to neutral and pulled the emergency brake! Kindly, my passenger walked around to the driver seat and saved the day, but in my refusal to try, I missed an opportunity to stretch myself to overcome my panic.
When we push through our tight spots, we gain wisdom and see things about ourselves that we don’t realize. Our strength builds resistance and confidence. I learned how to manage the clutch that day.
Are you operating in your sweet spot?
My passenger had been full of grace and patience; exactly what I needed. Jesus is there for you too, in the impossible moments ready to take the wheel when you ask.
Side note, a few years later, I married that passenger and he continues to help me find the sweet spots in life when I nee