Five years after their last meeting the young man, now not so young, once again caught a glimpse of the Ghost Driver carriage. He saw it speeding along a high road, with the whip cracking and the horses galloping, and the very faint impression of several ethereal drivers urging it along.
Later that same day he came across it again, standing in the shade of a cluster of trees beside a country road. The young woman was sitting quietly in the shade.
He approached her and then stood quiet and motionless.
She saw him approach but did not greet him. They were both unsure how to proceed.
Finally he broke the silence. “I see you still have your carriage and your drivers.”
She nodded as she gazed at her feet. He shuffled with uncertainty.
Help At Last
“I think I can help you”, he announced at last. She did not react.
“I have found the secret to being rid of these Ghost Drivers.” His voice quickly became enthusiastic. He had waited a long time to pass on this vital information. “I know how you get them and how to get rid of them.” She did not respond, so he continued, as if to assure her. “It has been done, you know. Many people have become free from a life like yours.”
She turned her head away, as if not wanting to hear more. He moved so she could see him.
“Don’t you want to be free?” She waited, still, before springing up and walking to the carriage. He followed. Beside the rig she nodded her head to indicate that he should look inside.
Another Passenger
He peered into the carriage and saw a small baby, sleeping in a basket.
“It’s too late”, she muttered as she walked away. He looked again at the baby and then followed her.
“You can be FREE!” He asserted. She turned and raged at him as she indicated toward the baby. “I cannot be free of HER!”
“You can both be free! Can’t you see I am telling you that you don’t have to be trapped by these ghosts?”
She returned to the place where she had been sitting and slumped herself back onto the grass. “He left me. He said he could not take it anymore. He left me and the baby. Now what am I to do?” She asked as one who does not expect an answer.
Try Freedom
“You could try Freedom”, he suggested. She did not react, so he took that as permission to explain.
“There is a man I found who knows of these Ghost Drivers. He has dealt with them before. And he knows where they come from. They are passed to us, as familiar acquaintances of our parents, or they come and introduce themselves to us. If we welcome them, or if we do not resist them, they claim a part of us. We agree by our invitation or acquiescence.” She did not respond to any of this.
“Over time they make demands of us, urging us to give over more and more of our life to their control. If we give in to their suggestions, such as to be angry, bitter, jealous, resentful, proud, selfish, or many other things, then their grip on our life becomes much stronger. Eventually they have their claws dug deep into our flesh and they drive us at their whim.” She put her face in her hands.
All of this gave her no hope, but only described her destruction.
Grow a New Life Within
“Our only hope is to grow a new life within. Since our old life has become a slave and must die to be rid of its masters, we need a new life spawned within us, from God. That new life lives in freedom from the things that drive our flesh.” She did not move.
“Once there are two lives within us we can then die to our flesh and deal with all those selfish, evil, hurtful and destructive things we once invited into our life. While our old flesh man dies, we are not hurt, but liberated. Our new man is all the more free to live a wonderful new life.” He finished this explanation on a high note, excited by the prospects. She, however, was unmoved.
“You make it sound too easy. But I know the tyranny of my masters. They will not give me up without much pain. I cannot face the humiliation and I won’t admit I was wrong. I won’t give up my claim for revenge against my husband, or my resentment of my parents, or my jealousy of my school friends. I won’t give up my pride in my own ability to survive and to succeed without God’s help. I cannot afford to give up such things without enduring unbearable pain and shame.”
“You will live in such slavery and doom yourself and your daughter to a life of misery?” He was astonished.
Cumalongnow!
With that, a loud “Cumalongnow!” rang from unseen voices and she dashed into the carriage which began to speed away. Her flight was so quick and determined that he hardly had time to see through the dust the gestures from spite, arrogance, defiance and the like, raging from atop the carriage. He also could not see the tortured look of despair in a face that knew the truth, but could not bear to face it.
Our young friend was saddened but not daunted. His new understanding of these things put him to recognising others of his acquaintance who had Ghosts driving their lives at times. Some only heard a “Cumalongnow!” on the rarest of occasions, while some were stirred by unseen voices almost every day.
He began to visit these people and to share with them the truth he now understood. Some, but not all, were open to his message. Some, too, gained complete freedom from masters that spoiled their life and marriage. Many a family thanked him repeatedly for the healing he brought, not only to the enslaved, but to the experience of them all.
From time to time he stopped to pray for a woman and a little girl, whirling around the countryside in uncontrolled urges and furies. What tragedy lay in store for them yet?
Getting the Picture?
The things that drive you are part of your life by your agreement. You agree to contracts either by your signature (you requested the good or service) or by your acquiescence (you did not object to the imposition forced upon you).
When fear sweeps over you, giving you a sample of its wares, you either buy in or your reject the goods as unsuitable for the life you wish to live. If anger sweeps over you, giving you a taste of its finest qualities, you either subscribe or you throw the sample away. This is how it works for all those things you have integrated into your life.
Of course, when you are very young you are more vulnerable and less likely to know what is going on. But even then, you knew by the way it made you feel, that the things you welcomed into your life were not things that made you noble and special, but things that made you evil and dirty.
More Control
Once those things have become travelling companions in your life they will seek permission to take greater and greater control of your life. They will suggest, “It’s a good time to be angry. I’d be really angry if I were you.” If you accept the suggestion you give over that much more of your will and life to the invaders, until they become Ghost Drivers of your life.
Freedom comes from reversing those invitations and contracts which we established with the evil influences. However it is most effectively done when we die to our old life, including all its contracts, and live out of the new life born in us by the Holy Spirit when we are saved.
If you missed the first part of this allegory you will find it at: http://chrisfieldblog.com/ministry/ghost-driver
