“For the spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, His spirit fills us with power, love, and self control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

To say that it was frustrating would be an understatement. There I was, driving on Scott Street in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, attempting to adhere to the rule of “plus nine”. It was impossible.

What is this rule, you say? It simply means that in the city, except in a school zone, you can drive the posted speed limit plus nine km and you will not get a speeding ticket.

Please note that this is applicable to speed limits of 50, 60 & 70 km only. When posted speeds are 80 km and above, we adhere to the “plus nineteen” rule.

But I digress. You’re curious to know why it was impossible to implement the “plus nine” rule, right?

Blame it on the white Porsche Boxster. More precisely, the middle-aged driver of the aforementioned speed machine.

He stubbornly refused to drive faster than the posted speed limit of 50 km/hour.

Now, I am no expert on the Porsche Boxster, but, I knew instinctively that it could go a lot faster than the Buick Regal that was promptly obeying my prompts to go “nine plus”.

In the interests of ensuring journalistic integrity, I verified this fact by perusing the Porsche website and found that “The Boxster with six-speed manual gearbox accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds and reaches a top speed of 264 km/h.”

Contrast this please with the chariot in which I was chugging along. Investigative journalism revealed that the Regal zooms from 0-100 in 9.3 seconds flat, with a maximum speed of 180 km/h.

In automobile terms, the Boxster is a hare, the Regal a tortoise. No contest whatsoever. The Boxster wins feet down, every time on every count!

Despite sitting at the controls of such a powerful machine, the driver chose to abide by the law.

Yes, I was frustrated. But, after hearing Holy Spirit whisper something in my ear, I was also full of admiration for the driver.

What was the whisper, you ask? He said: “Now there is a fine illustration of meekness for you, Jeeva.”

Meekness…I am sure you immediately thought of the Beatitude: “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Right?

Although mousy people are usually labelled “meek” by society, did you know that the Biblical definition of meekness is not weakness, but “strength under control?”

The most popular way for preachers to explain this is to use the example of a horse, such as a wild stallion, which never loses its raw power, but is trained to use it according to its master’s control.

The Thoroughbred Boxster has a horsepower of 267 at 6700 rpm, compared to 200 at 5200 for the Shetland Pony known as the Regal.

In other words, the driver had more power to burn, but chose not to. He was indeed modeling meekness.

Dear DWOD friend, you may be tempted at times to show off how much power you have. You may even mistakenly think that you can win others over by an awesome display of brute force.

That is worldly thinking. According to Jesus, the way to be recognized as a great leader is by demonstrating your ability to control the power that is at your disposal. It is not only a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It is also an act of obedience.

Now you know why Jesus described himself as being meek. (Matthew 11:29)

Believe it or not, limiting your speed will actually accelerate your progress on the road to your destiny.