“As Jesus descends with his chariot of fire!” (William W. Phelps, “The Spirit Of God”). I remember reading an article one time that may or may not be true but the solid state boosters used to launch shuttles into space were built in Utah and they were so heavy that they could only be transported by rail. Therefore, they could only be built so big as they had to fit on the railroad tracks. The railroads themselves are the particular width that they are because the first people to make railroads were wagon makers in England. The wagon makers used certain widths for their wagon wheels based on the centuries’ old ruts in the roads. The ruts were formed originally by Roman chariots back when Rome used to rule over England. So, in a way, these amazing vehicles of fire that can hurtle people at thousands of miles per hour into space were shaped by the humble chariot. When we truly hand our lives over to the Savior with no reservation and allow our wills to be swallowed up by His, He promises to accelerate our education and the light and knowledge we receive to the point that it's like we are strapping into a rocket headed straight towards heaven. But that rocket is shaped by our humble chariot. The Lord speaks to each of us in our own language, according to our own understanding. We have in our slow, plodding way, carved deep ruts of experience into our minds and hearts. Thanks to education and advancements, we have traded out horse drawn carriages for steam powered locomotives, but even our railroads are tied to the limitations of those first experiences that are carved so deeply into us. The Lord won't take away the things that have shaped and molded us. The rocket he designs for us will take into account the original size of our chariots. Christ's chariot of fire combines the best of us with the best of Him, and we will see in the end that neither He nor we would have it any other way.
