Roller-Coasters are of the Devil.

Many times have I wondered at why my relationship with Christ seemed so much like a roller-coaster ride. I was told this was normal by many youth pastors, my friends all felt the same, but there was a part of me that didn't want to believe it always had to be that way. Why when I have reached such a high point do I have to fall right back down to the bottom? This cannot be the way. Yet, evidenced in my own life I could find no reason not to believe it was the case.

Psalm 1:1-3

"How blessed is the man who does ot walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he mediates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers."

Then I asked myself, do I listen to the counsel of the wicked (magazines, unglodly friends, secular philosophy, self-help books, music, etc.), do I stand in the way of sinners (where do I go? clubs, bars, impure movies, concerts, parties, etc.), do I sit in the seat of scoffers (do I merely listen to what my friends say and think about others and justify it by not participating)? Do I honestly expect that my relationship with Christ will not be affected by what I fill my mind with, where I go, and who I am with?

In contrast, do I delight in the law of the Lord, so much so that I meditate on it day and night. Not just a devotion when I find the time, but truly meditate at a minimum of two separate times (day and night)?

Here I find the cause the roller-coaster spritiual walk. But it does not stop at that! (Psalm 1:3) I can be a tree FIRMLY planted (Isaiah 40:31). Firmly PLANTED (Isaiah 61:3). By streams of WATER (John 4:10). My fruit will yeild in its season and my leaf will not wither! This does not sound like a roller-coaster relationship with God, but rather a fruitful and ongoing growth that God has offered to me. So then, why such chaos? It is my own actions, and to blame that things are just going to be this way because that is all I have ever known is to outright deny the saving grace and and freedom that I have in Christ (Romans 6:1-7).

May in never be that we would settle for a roller-coaster ride when can have abundant life (John 10:10)!