Finding God in the Roller Coaster of Life
By Jessica Brodie
When I was younger, I used to love roller coasters—the ones that take you upside down, the ones that swoop around so fast you think your head is going to fall off, the ones that go straight down giving you the impression the whole cart will just tip over on end. They were thrilling! Exciting!
But I still remember that first roller coaster ride after I had kids. I climbed inside the roller coaster car, eagerly strapping myself safely in, eagerly anticipating that freefall and wild ride, that heady emotion that would surely make me shriek with delight. But instead of joy, I felt like I was going to be sick. Something had happened to me, whether you call it age or hormonal fluctuations from becoming a mom, or what. Something inside my body had shifted, and the same rides that used to thrill me now felt all wrong. Vertigo took over, and I spent the rest of the day sick to my stomach. The next time I tried a roller coaster it was the same thing. And the time after, and the time after that.
Finally I realized my roller coaster days were, sadly, over.
Sometimes life is like a roller coaster. Its twists and turns are exciting, passionate, wild and all-consuming. Whether it’s romance or career or friendship or travel, the extremes make you feel vibrantly alive!
But it’s not sustainable. Eventually we crave the gentle lull, the settling down—the simmer over the full rolling boil. We crave peace.
Here’s the thing, though—God is present in all of it. He’s there in the whisper and the roar, the cacophony of color and vibrant sound and the gentle melody. He’s never not there.
Whether you’re in a roller coaster season or a quiet one, remember that even those times we don’t feel God around us, God is still there. Beckoning. Drawing us closer and closer.
He’s the harness on that roller coaster ride, and the guiding hand upon the light breeze, all in one.
All you have to do is open your heart and look around.
I love that story from the Bible when the prophet Elijah, fleeing for his life from the wicked queen Jezebel, seeks God in the wilderness.
“The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (1 Kings 19:11-13 NIV).
Here’s the thing: God is always there. God is love, and God loves us! But sometimes we feel distant from God, like He’s not close, like He doesn’t really care.
This story, like so many in the Bible, remind us it’s not that God’s not talking—often, it’s that we’re not listening in the right way or seeking Him where He is. The relationship problem is not with Him but with us.
Sometimes God is in the wind and the earthquake and the fire—but sometimes He’s in the whisper. Sometimes He’s in the roller coaster—and sometimes He’s in the quiet peace.
But God is always there.
Have you experienced a time when you searched for God but God felt far away? How did you get back to a renewed relationship with Him?
If this is you today, how can you do that now?
A prayer: Dear God, thank you for always being there, even when I can’t feel you. Help me to trust in you that you are there. Help me to know that the problem isn’t you but me, and help me draw closer to you in new and different ways, seeking you in the wind and fire as well as in the whispers and sighs. I love you, God. Amen.
