Staying on Track
by Gilly Mathiesen
While driving the other day, I was reminded of the ribbed white lines on the right and left of the driving lane (rumble strips). Driving too close to either of the rumble strips can be strongly felt under the wheels of the car, causing the driver to straighten up the vehicle, preventing them from going too far in the wrong direction on either side.
It’s a welcomed safety feature in Denmark on main roads to ensure drivers ‘stay in lane’. Some cars even have a lane-assist feature in their cars now, causing the car to indicate when the driver is going too close to the demarcation of the other lane. It got me thinking about our walk with the Lord and how He gently guides us back when we veer too far to the left or right, like the lane assist or rumble strips.
As a young Christian, I wrongly viewed my walk as a believer as being like a tightrope walk. Now I realise that this perception came from legalistic viewpoints which peppered my upbringing and led to ungodly fear in my life. My focus was more about not putting a single foot wrong and obeying the rules rather than on enjoying the journey and my relationship with the Lord, and trusting Him to keep me on track. I John 4:18 (NIV) states that ‘there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.’
There is a song called ‘Tightrope’ by Michelle Williams where she sings ‘We're walking a tightrope, never sure, will you catch me if I should fall.’ And that is how we can feel towards the Lord when we view our walk as a tightrope. Will He catch me if I fall? Is there a safety net underneath?
Learning that the Christian walk is not like being on a tension-charged tightrope, but is more like driving with lane-assist or rumble strips to guide me on the right path, has been very healing. It is about loving the Lord so much we don’t want to err to the left or the right and hurt Him and ourselves.
Johnny Cash sings a song called ‘Walk the Line’, which is a song about his love for his first wife. The words reflect how I feel towards the Lord, as I walk a path of love and freedom, yet still have a desire to obey and follow His ways. He sings, ‘Because you’re mine, I walk the line’, but I would like to change the words to ‘Because I’m Yours, I walk the line’. Love is a choice, and what a precious gift God has given us of free-will. He didn’t want anyone to love Him because they were programmed or forced to do so. He wanted us to choose Him, to stay in lane, and walk the line because of love.
Gilly Mathiesen Gilly has a heart to see broken lives healed. She got involved in Christian ministry at a young age, working as a missionary for some years, as well as teaching at a Christian school. She has been involved with Ellel Ministries for the past 10 years and trained and worked on the team in Northern Ireland before moving to Denmark in 2016. She and her husband Steen have been pioneering an Ellel work there since early 2018. They long to see people healed and set free to be all that God has designed them to be.
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