Cleveland Motor Speedway will never make the national or international news. They rarely make the local newspaper the following day. Yet on a warm Saturday night the main event was exciting! Large modified cars with far too much horsepower than one could reasonably know what do to with fearlessly hurled themselves around a wet dirt track at speeds topping out over a hundred miles an hour! The high banked oval isn’t quite oval shaped, and the wet mud soon becomes hard lumps under the burning rubber and mostly sideways spinning cars. You can get three wide in the corners but it is hard to keep up one’s speed or stay anywhere near the racing line if you do.
The main event was a snapshot of life. Number 33 was out in the front, clear track, clear air, and not even some dirt smudge on the paint to show for thirty laps of racing. The fight for third place was where most of us life. #22 and #3 fought it out, on the outside, on the inside, touching each other, hitting the wall, letting things ride right on the edge as if nothing else mattered! Who was the best? Was there one that we should root for? Was anything fair? I have no idea! As fun as it was to watch I kept imaging myself in their seat. Would I have had the courage to stay on the pedal accelerating towards that corner and wall? Could I have kept my cool what everyone was bumping and grinding on my car? Do I want to win, really win?
In life there is no sense of fairness or letting anybody you or I get clear track much less even some clear air. God will deal with this in time. John notes that finally there was going to be “no more trouble out of him [Satan], [no] deceiving the nations—until the thousand years are up.” (Revelation 20.2)
Between now and then we can get in, mix it up, and race! God and the Presence are always with you.
