Are you hitting the gas too hard?

Our dog, Murray, is a 10 year old golden retriever who’s been a wonderful family dog. As he’s grown older, unfortunately, he’s started to wrestle a bit on walking on the hardwood floors in our house. I liken it to a person who’s lost self-confidence and is insecure in their abilities. However, today, I want to focus on where he struggles the most.

You see, its not when Murray is walking around the house at a reasonable pace that he gets himself in trouble. No, instead, it’s only when he attempts to accelerate his pace too quickly. Likening it to a car, Murray is “hitting the gas too hard” which is causing him to lose control. Fortunately, he hasn’t had a serious accident yet, however, at the current rate, he’ll likely injure himself in the future.

As I often do, I reflect on life’s circumstance, apply them to my personal life, and look for opportunities for God to reveal character traits and opportunities for growth within me. So, like Murray, the question I must ask is “am I hitting the gas too hard” and , if so, “is it causing circumstances that are hurting me?”

One of the areas that comes immediately to mind for me is the busyness of my daily routine. One of the things I’ve been blessed with in recent years is time at the front end of my day to where I can start my day in prayer and devotion. Periodically, throughout the month, I have days where I must get out significantly earlier than my normal routine. On these days, I normally rise a bit earlier and “rush” through my daily prayer and devotional time. Interestingly, as I look back, I can often see where on these days I typically am starting out “hitting the gas too hard” which is resulting in my lose of focus on Him throughout the day. Then, when I ease up on the gas, everything starts to come back into focus again.

Well, you know the analogy that “you can’t teach a old dog new tricks”. Thus far, that’s been our experience with Murray when it comes to his walking on hardwood floors, but we’re still trying. On the other hand, this “old dog” has been taught an awful lot over the past few years and I am going to consciously stay focused on “easing into the accelerator”.

How about you? Where are you “hitting the gas too hard?” If you don’t have an immediate answer, maybe that is an answer in itself. Ask God, listen, and He’ll show you where to focus.