Gently Does It

You face a lot of challenges when you begin to learn to drive. Of course, there are all the rules of the road and the myriad of signs that you have to learn to decipher; but the biggest challenge is learning to safely start and stop this three- to four-thousand-pound hunk of metal.

Learning to accelerate is much easier with an automatic transmission than it is with a straight-drive; but getting the feel for the gas pedal is essential to being an effective driver. While it might be tempting to just stomp on the pedal, you learn pretty quickly that’s not good for your tires, the engine, or your passengers. Besides that, it wastes lots of fuel (which, at over $3/gallon, means it wastes lots of money).

The best drivers learn how to press gently on the accelerator to take the vehicle smoothly to the desired speed, and then how much to ease off to maintain the proper speed based on the current conditions. Cruise control may be fine for an open highway, but skillful drivers will always do a better job than a computer of keeping the automobile at the appropriate speed by keeping their foot firmly planted on the accelerator.

Once you take your foot off the accelerator, vehicles do tend to slow and eventually come to a stop. However, most of the time you don’t have the luxury of waiting for “eventually.” You have to stop at the red light. You have to stop in the garage. You have to stop before you run over the shoppers pushing their cart through the parking lot. You have to learn to use the brake.

Getting a feel for the brake can be as challenging, if not more so, than getting a feel for the gas. Push too hard, and you jerk yourself and your passengers around. Don’t push hard enough, and, well, the consequences can be anywhere from embarrassing to catastrophic. You have to learn apply the brake with a gentle firmness that slows your momentum and allows you to stop when and where you want.

Gentleness is one of the characteristics of God’s love for us—and one of the ways God calls us to love others. You might think that gentleness suggests weakness, but true gentleness requires deep strength, humility, and grace. Jesus gave a model for the kind of gentleness he expects of us when he washed his disciples’ feet (John 13).

May that gentleness grow in your life and in your community of faith; so that you will go where God calls you to go, and pause where God calls you to stay.