Learning LOVE is Like Learning to Drive a Stick Shift

Today I came to the realization that learning the love of the Lord is like learning to drive a stick shift. When you begin to learn to drive a manual automobile, you have no grid for how to operate the vehicle (unless you grew up on a farm in the middle of Nebraska, and you came out of the womb knowing how to drive a tractor with gears. In that case, this blog does not apply to you).

When we first try to understand how God loves us and how much He loves us, we have no grid. We were in the world, and we only know how it operates, with all its greed, lust, and selfish ambitions. As we learn to drive, it is very awkward at first, trying to operate the clutch, gear shift, and gas all at once. God's love is not so complicated, but coming out of the world is. It is remembering that the sin, along with all the shame has been removed from us, as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). It is about realizing that even when we think we are dark and ugly because of the darkness of our hearts, we can still run to the open arms of God and He won't condemn us. It is about recognizing the accusations as accusations, and not what we thought was the truth that the world taught us.

When we are learning to drive, it is so easy to stall. We don't give the car enough gas, or we pop the clutch. We we are learning to love God and receive His love, we fall right on our face sometimes, as we forget the main point of life is to love God and be loved by God. We "pop the clutch" as we think we have to strive to earn His love. We stall out when we seek the affirmation of men rather that rely on the affirmation and love of the Lord.

Learning to engage the gears going up a hill is a whole other story. You think you have got it down until you try to start in first gear going up a hill. It is the same way with knowing the Lord's love for us when we hit our first few mountains, or obstacles, to maintaining a "yes" in our hearts to His leadership. How about Mt. Self, Mt. Doubt, or Mt. Where-Are-You-Lord? I continue to stall out trying to go over those mountains. Even though these "stalls" are painful, the Lord is using them to create more room for Him and teach me of His everlasting love even more.

Eventually though, learning to drive a stick shift becomes like second nature. You don't even have to think about what to do first, or even how high the RPM's are before you shift. It just comes naturally. Even though I have not learned how to drive God's stick shift love-mobile, I am hoping that one day it will become something I don't have to think about with every hill or mountain. I hope that one day knowing the love of God will become not just second nature, but first nature. His nature must become my nature.