Are You a Tailgater?
“My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You…” (Psalm 63:8, AMPC)
You’re driving down the highway and look up at your rearview mirror. In your sight, there is a car so close to your bumper that if you reached out your back window, you could touch its hood.
It can be very irritating to have someone follow you that closely. What if you needed to hit your brakes suddenly. That would be an accident in the making.
You’re thinking to yourself, why don’t they back off. The old you would probably tap your brakes to shake them up a little bit. Or maybe, you would give them a few offensive hand gestures. But thanks be to God, “… anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT)
Hallelujah! It’s a new life that causes us to react differently.
Let’s look at this exact situation from a different perspective. The scenario now is, God is driving car number one, and you are driving car number two. What do you think His reaction would be? He would probably look in His rearview mirror and smile, saying, “Look at my son — look at my daughter. They’re perfectly aligned with Me.” God would probably ask, “Can you get any closer?”
Unlike us, God loves tailgaters. He is attracted to those who stick close to Him. The proof is in James 4:8, where it tells us, “if we to draw nigh to God, He will draw nigh to us.”
Take the life of Naomi and Ruth as an example. After Ruth’s husband died, Naomi pleaded with her daughter-in-law to return to her family. But Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law’s side. She responded, “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God.” (Ruth 1:16) In other words, Naomi, I’m not going anywhere.
Now that’s a covenant relationship.
Next, let’s look at the connection between Elijah and Elisha. You know the story. Elijah asked Elisha what he could do for him before he was taken away. Elisha’s response was he desired a double portion of his spirit to come upon him. In response, Elijah replied, “If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” (2 Kings 2:10)
What an example of zeal and tenacity on Elisha’s part.
Just as Ruth and Elisha followed faithfully behind Naomi and Elijah, our pursuit for God should be of the same manner. Whenever God accelerates, we should be willing to do the same. Whenever He decreases His speed, we should be ready to decrease in speed as well.
No, it’s not going to be easy following God. Our patience will be tested, and our faith will be tried. But we have to remain steadfast on our journey. Determined to travel the distance in our cycle of movements with God.
In this hour, God is looking for aggressive drivers. Those that aren’t afraid to jump over into the fast lane. Those who aren’t afraid to put the pedal to the metal and drive on the autobahn. Those who are willing to take the risk and follow closely.
Take a moment today to access your driving skills, then ask yourself, “Am I a tailgater, or am I a distant driver?” In this case, tailgating is fine.
Join me next week for Coffee on The Couch.