ControlSample

SNOWBOARDING SECRETS 

Have you ever tried to learn how to snowboard? It’s really hard! Now, I was obsessed with skateboarding from the age of five, so when I finally had the opportunity to go on a youth group trip to Utah and try snowboarding for the first time, I was sure I was going to be a natural. Turns out, the two sports are very different. If you just stand up and point the nose of the board downhill, you will pick up speed…fast. And at that point you realize that you don’t really know how to steer or stop, so you fall on purpose just so you don’t end up going 90 miles-per-hour into a tree. After that terrifying experience, you start playing around with the “falling leaf technique.” This is where you stay in the “braking position” (facing downhill, toes pointed up, and slowly scooting down the hill from side to side), and it’s slow, safe, and boring. 

I had been “falling leafing” all day, and by mid-afternoon, my calves just couldn’t take it anymore. I plopped my butt down in the cold snow half-way down the mountain, and just sat there to catch my breath and decide if I was going to just quit for the day or not. After a couple minutes, a buddy of mine came racing up behind me, did the cool sweeping stop you see at the X-Games, and sat down next to me. We talked for a minute and I told him about my stupid falling leaf strategy and how tired my legs were. He told me that’s exactly how his first time was as well, and then someone told him the hidden secret of snowboarding: it’s actually so much easier when you just give in and go fast. He said, “I know it sounds scary, but just point the nose of the board downhill, steer with your back foot, and let her rip…I promise, it’ll be so much easier and way more fun.” 

And with that advice, he popped up and tore off down the mountain. Well, other than breaking every bone in my body, what did I have to lose? I stood up, let the nose of the board slowly start to point downhill, and almost instantly I was flying. I remembered what he said and used my back leg to push me a little to the right…okay, straighten it out…okay, other way, turn left. It was amazing! It had taken me 20 grueling minutes to fall like a leaf half-way down the mountain, and about 45 seconds to carve like a beast down the second half. I was hooked! I spent the rest of that weekend tearing down the mountains like I had been doing it for years…it was unbelievable how much easier the whole thing was when I just let go.

I’m sure you can see where this is going, but following Jesus is a lot like this too. We can go so much farther, so much faster, and have so much more joy and excitement in our lives when we just let go. Yes, it can be scary, but it can also be so much better than anything else you’ve experienced. When we’re constantly grasping at control, we tire ourselves out, we get frustrated, and it feels like we’re not getting anywhere. But, when we just let go and trust God to lead the way, it becomes almost effortless. That’s not to say you won’t encounter problems or wipe out every now and then, but you’ll never regret giving God total control of your life…it always leads somewhere better than what you could do on your own.