Don't Burn Up Your Tires
Posted: Sunday, March 13, 2011
by Mark Totilo
Isaac's Tent Ministries
Infineon Speedway is located in Sonoma, California in the heart of the wine country of Napa Valley. Once a year NASCAR brings a special event to this sweeping 12 turn left and right road course. Most of the season, drivers have their left turn signal stuck on, going around different sized oval tracks across the country. This track is different in the fact it tests many of the skills a driver must have to ascend the throne to sit as Champion.
Several years ago in 2001, Robbie Gordon an accomplished road racer was only a few laps from winning the crown jewel of road racing when he passed a lapped car driven by the #29 Kevin Harvick. Unwilling to end the race a lap down the #29 car fought Gordon for his lap back, racing him hard through the snake-like course. Gordon on the other hand refused to yield and fought to keep the pesky rookie in his rear view mirror.
While the duel transpired, the #20 car crept toward the combatants. With one lap to go, Gordon’s real threat filled his mirrors. He did every thing he could to hold off the master road racer, Tony Stewart. With his tires gone he had nothing left to fight with, Stewart flashed past and captured the checkers. In his effort to keep the lapped car of Harvick behind him, he burnt up his tires.
On a race car, grip is the key to winning races. Good tires keeps the car on the track and from spinning out of control. As the tires get a few laps on them and get heated up the car doesn’t turn through the corners as well at a high rate of speed. More wear is put on the tires the harder the car is driven. Someone who has saved his tires can get his car to go where a car who’s raced hard can’t, giving him the advantage. Gordon surrendered his grip for pride.
In the book of Song of Songs 2:15 says,Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. In Solomon’s wisdom he saw there are insignificant things that try to eat up the good things in our lives. Things that try to impede us, but really have no power to influence where we are going. However when attention is given to these insignificant things, we fail to see the real threats that keep us from victory lane.
Winding through the treacherous corners of life and chasing the leader has its ups and its downs, but what happens when we finally reach the front of the pack? We have a tendency to not allow anything to get by us, fearing what we have will be taken away. We use unnecessary energy to fight things that are so menial. When all the while hiding behind the fox is a lion ready to pounce.
The word foxes in the Hebrew is, shuwal and it means to burrow. These meaningless things burrow into us, scream at us for attention. They sap our energy and resources keeping us from pursuing our dreams and attaining our goals. Trees that have too many branches are not fruitful. The extra branches need to be pruned so the tree can expend its energy bearing much fruit, then will a fruit tree have done its job.
It was Robbie Gordon’s job to win the race for his owner. He stood to gain more by letting a lapped car by and winning, then coming in second. It could’ve been a stepping stone to more prestige and sponsorship money for his race team. The hollow feeling he must have felt as he extricated himself from his car and trudged toward his trailer. Kevin Harvick got into his head and out foxed him, spoiled his tender grapes and his champagne shower of sweet victory.
So each day as you head out and run your race, give a casual glance to the fox but watch the lion. Get a grip and ride those tires to the checkered flag.
This Article has been viewed 100 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.