I believe too often we experience many pit stops in life that perhaps God has nothing to do with. Because of His grace, He continues to press the brake pedal, still there with you. Because of His mercy, the clock is still ticking. At some point, every journey will run out of fuel and the distance you’ve traveled will speak for your life. Hence a question worth pondering; how many unnecessary stops are you making along the way?
Just as with any journey you take, the journey of life will always include some interesting and even enticing pit stops along your travel; some worth stopping for, some not. Are you wise enough to know the difference? There are pit stops for learning and nurturing your craft. There will be stops available for you to give someone else a hand or to lift them up. You will also come across pit stops reminding you of those before you who have succeeded in a journey somewhat or very similar to your own. Be sure to check out these pit stops when you can, as they are a representation of giving you the fuel you’ll need to continue moving forward.
However, there are also pit stops along the way designed to distract you in any negative way possible. You will often come upon those that offer you big free bags of doubt and fear about what may be up ahead in your journey. You can also be distracted by pit stops called Gossip, that will make available to you, information about others that can cause you to have a skewed and distorted view of who they really are. Such misinformation can cause you to miss out on some of the most valuable connections available. There will even be pit stops ahead to inform you of those who didn’t make it much further than that particular milestone with a list of all the reasons why you won’t either, trying to encourage you to simply give up.
Then, there are the pit stops available only at night, allowing you to engage in activities that are meant only for the dark. These activities can include backstabbing, destroying the character of others, engaging in relationships and friendships not pleasing to God and many more. These activities show up only for you to negatively impact the lives of others. Unfortunately, these night-time pit stops fail to inform you that, more than anything else, your behavior in these moments is most likely leading you into actually digging a hole for yourself and your own personal journey. Along your journey, you may even experience what appears to be a dead-end. These will be some of the most pivotal moments as you will now need to make decisions that could possibly determine the outcome of your life altogether. Is it really a dead-end or do you need to regroup and try again?
Pit stops in life and along your journey will happen all the time. The most productive ones are when you take the time to learn more about your service and how you can better your ability to somehow change the lives of others. When you stop and take the time to reflect on the progress you’ve made and recognize the strengths within which have contributed to such. These are the moments you want to visit from time to time. The negative pit stops you experience are more mental than anything else. The times you stop to worry about the things that don’t really matter and have no power in your destiny. The times when you try to figure out more than you need to know at the present time. When you find yourself dwelling far too long on mistakes of the past. These are the pit stops you want to avoid as much as possible. Not only do they hinder your progress and keep you from growing. Most importantly, they keep God, your driver, waiting on you to get back on your journey with Him where you can continue moving forward. God is always waiting but don’t keep Him waiting so long that your fuel runs dry and you miss out on all that life really does have to offer you. Pit stops. Know which ones are worth your time and know which ones to bypass. Your own judgment of these moments will determine how far in life you go.
Author Tawana R. Powell
www.tawanapowell.com
