DARE Woman,
Recently, my mentor shared an illustration during a teaching and this scenario correctly describes our journies and what has changed the destination of so many people.
Imagine you’re learning to drive.
As a new driver, every movement requires your full attention. Your hands grip the steering wheel tightly. Your eyes constantly check the mirrors. Every road sign matters.
Then you notice the speed limit.
30 mph.
You carefully stay within it because you know someone is watching.
Suddenly, your instructor gently says, “You’re over the speed limit.”
Immediately, you ease your foot off the accelerator.
Why?
Because you’re aware of the boundary.
But something interesting happens with experience.
The more comfortable we become behind the wheel, the less intentional we become about watching the signs. We know the route. We trust our instincts. We begin to believe we can handle a little more speed.
Five miles over doesn’t seem like much……..Then ten.
Eventually, breaking the speed limit doesn’t even feel like breaking the rules—it feels normal.
As I reflected on this, I realized that our spiritual lives can look remarkably similar.
Very few people wake up one morning intending to abandon God’s standards.
Instead, we become familiar, comfortable and confident.
We stop paying attention to the signs that once kept us aligned.
The convictions that once caused us to pause become whispers we easily ignore.
The boundaries we once respected slowly become suggestions.
What once troubled our conscience no longer seems to bother us.
And because nothing immediately goes wrong, we assume everything must be fine.
But grace was never intended to make us casual about holiness.
It was given to empower us to live differently.
Lot is one of the clearest examples of this progression.
When Abraham and Lot separated, Lot looked toward the fertile plains of the Jordan. The land appeared prosperous. The opportunity seemed irresistible.
The Scriptures tell us that he pitched his tents near Sodom.
Near………. Not in………….
At least not yet.
But proximity has a way of becoming permanence.
The next time we read about Lot, he isn’t camping near Sodom.
He’s living there…………………………………………
“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial.
— 1 Corinthians 10:23
Later, we read about him sitting in the city gate—a place of leadership and influence.
What happened?
He didn’t arrive in Sodom overnight.
He drifted there.
- One compromise.
- One adjustment.
- One rationalization at a time.
Lot had no business living in Sodom.
Not because he wasn’t righteous—the New Testament tells us his righteous soul was distressed by what he saw around him—but because he had become comfortable in a place that constantly opposed God’s heart.
I wonder how often we do the same.
Not necessarily with obvious sin.
But with:
- Attitudes.
- Conversations.
- Entertainment.
- Relationships.
- Priorities.
- Habits.
Places we once avoided because we knew they would slowly reshape our hearts.
The danger isn’t always rebellion, Sometimes it is familiarity.
Breaking the speed limit doesn’t usually happen because we’re trying to crash.
It happens because we stop paying attention.
Perhaps today, the Holy Spirit is lovingly saying to us what the instructor says to the learner:
“You’re exceeding the limit.”
Not to condemn us.
But to protect us.
Because every boundary God establishes is an expression of His love, not a restriction of our freedom.
As I examine my own journey, I find myself asking:
Where have I become comfortable with what I once questioned?
What convictions have I slowly allowed to fade?
Have I mistaken God’s patience for His approval?
Maybe today isn’t about making a dramatic U-turn.
Maybe it’s simply about easing our foot off the accelerator and allowing the Holy Spirit to recalibrate our pace.
Because faithfulness is not just about avoiding the crash.
It is about learning to travel at the speed of obedience.
Reflection
- Where has familiarity caused me to lower God’s standards in my own life?
- Have I drifted closer to environments, habits, or relationships that slowly dull my sensitivity to God?
- What “speed limit” has the Holy Spirit been reminding me to honour?
- Is there an area where I need to slow down, step back, or return to God’s boundaries?
Prayer
Father, thank You for loving me enough to establish boundaries that protect my purpose. Forgive me for the places where I have become comfortable with compromise or ignored the gentle warnings of Your Spirit. Restore a tender conscience within me. Help me to recognize when I am drifting and give me the humility to respond quickly to Your correction. Teach me to walk at the pace of obedience, trusting that Your limits are always expressions of Your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Yours in DARE-ing and Becoming,
Nkonye Odozi
1 thought on “Breaking The Speed Limit”
Thank you ma.