A year ago, Eboni, the boys, and I decided to join a caravan of Jeep Wrangler owners for an off-roading adventure in the Uwharrie Mountains! This was a group of, predominantly African American, Charlotte- based Jeep enthusiasts known as the Queen City Jeep Club. That morning, we had over fifty Jeeps on the trail: engines humming, spirits high!
In general, off-roading groups have two real rules:
⮚ Follow the person in front of you.
⮚ Do not get stuck.
That is, it. Simple.
The problem was… we were brand new! It was our very first time on that trail, and my first time ever off- roading in that Jeep! So, yes, you guessed it! I broke rule number two. There was this set of rocks— stubborn, immovable, taunting me. No matter how often I backed up, turned the wheel, and tried again, I just could not get over them. The more I pressed, the worse it sounded, the worse it looked, the more my wife and sons began openly questioning my life choices. It was bad! We were stuck—with at least thirty Jeeps lined up behind us, waiting for me to figure it out. At that moment, one of the seasoned Jeep owners walked up, calm as could be, and asked if he could help. I slid out, he slid in. He looked around, shifted a gear, hopped out, and said, “You’re good now.” I got back in, tapped the gas, and just like that—’smooth as butter’—we were climbing over the rocks and back in formation.
The point is: the gear was there the entire time. It was standard, built into the Jeep. I just did not know what it was, or when to use it. But the brother behind me did. Where I struggled, he flourished—not because the Jeep was different, but because he knew the gears, and he knew when to
shift those gears. Beloved, the Bible works the same way. Life will give us rocky trails. We will run into walls. We will face hills that feel too steep to climb. But God has given us ‘gears’— spiritual tools like fasting, prayer, worship, rest, forgiveness, and community—that can carry us forward if we know
when to use them.
This is the heartbeat of our new series: Moments and Miracles! Beginning this week, we will journey through the Old Testament, exploring the moments and miracles where God showed the people ‘gears’ that were accessible to them. Each story will not only reveal the tools at our disposal but also point us toward the greatest miracle of all—the birth of Jesus Christ. This series will teach us how to shift, and how to move through rough terrain with grace, courage, and power.
Asbury family, the ‘gear’ has always been there. The miracle is learning how, and when, to use it!
Amen.
Dr. Ron Bell
