Buckle Up...

​I am constantly amazed at how many people who are in addiction recovery get in my truck and do not fasten their seat belt. Do they think I am that safe a driver, or that it is too restraining? 
Either way, when I asked how many flew through a windshield in an accident only one hand went up. The rest may not have survived. So what is the bottom line of buckling up? Rebellion, lack of restraining boundaries of life, buying into the adrenaline rush of living life on the edge. But doing so actually perpetuates something else.
The free dictionary defines Buckle Up in 3 negative ways and one positive: 1. To bend, warp or crumple as in crumple under, 2. To give way: collapse, 3. To succumb, as to exhaustion or authority; give in. Yes, here's the paradox, not buckling up can cause buckling up. It can happen to addicts who escape every responsibility by using and it can happen to good people who never get the point of life.
Look at the Apostle Peter, he buckled up despite living with God himself for three years. When challenged he succumbed to the pressure by bailing out. Why? We can only guess it was fear of losing his life, but Jesus himself told him he who loses his life will gain it. Maybe Peter failed to read the ancient scripture passed down by the Jewish faith: As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all that trust him. 2 Samuel 22:31.
So, after Peter failed, he wept. Then, he became buckled up with the very Spirit of the Lord and turned his life around. We can too, it is our choice to buckle up or not, but when we do it clearly says in that scripture, the word of the Lord is tried, it has passed the test, it endures, and it takes us through whatever is before us, good or bad. Either way we are buckled up with protection.
In the A.A Big Book it says, "rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path". The 4th definition in that dictionary says: To become fastened with a buckle. That would be the buckler who fastens together all the aspects of our life, if we thoroughly follow him.
My advice, buckle up before we buckle up!