Pedal faster!

I remember when we were kids, my little brother was learning how to ride a bike and he could never figure out the brakes. He would just ride into something so he could stop. Like, I remember one day he was riding his bike and he couldn't stop, so he just rode right into the barn door. Well, obviously that stopped him. It seemed so simple, but it worked. A little blunt… but it worked.

Don't you wish life was like that? If we couldn't figure something out, there would just be an easy solution, like running into the barn door? I just want it to stop! The situation starts to spin out of control, and you can't figure it out, so you panic and run into the barn door. Quick, easy, problem solved.

I guess, in some ways, running or hiding from your problems is a lot like running into the barn door. If you just ignore the problem – pretend it isn’t there – in essence, you’ve stopped it, but you haven’t really learned anything. And eventually, you’ll have to do the same thing until you actually FIX the problem.

I think over the last couple of weeks God has been tugging at my heart asking me to look back and see what I've learned over the years. What have I gleaned from this journey we've been on? Does He have to teach me the same things over and over again? Do I have to keep running into the barn door or am I going learn how to use the brakes?

Learning how to use the brakes can be painful. It can involve many skinned knees and bruised feelings along the way. Mostly yours. Remember when you were first learning how to ride a bike and you would pedal really fast and then your dad would let go? You were fine until you realized that Dad had let go. The same goes when you’re learning to use the brakes… you’re fine until you realize there’s no barn door. You’re on your own. At what speed do you want to jump off?

In my recent past, I’ve learned to avoid the skinned knees, for the most part. If I wait long enough, someone or something is there to catch me when I’m about to hit the dirt. My work, my church, my friends, my kids. I’ve had a few minor bruises, but nothing too disastrous. That might seem like a good thing, but what’s happened is it’s prevented me from having to deal too much with my messy past. If I felt the wheels slipping out from underneath me, I would throw myself into my work, or focus on my kids, or get more involved in church, or just head for the barn door. Whatever I needed to do to make it go away. My aim for that barn door was pretty good.

But what happens when your kids are all grown, and you lose your business, and you find yourself alone and God starts reminding you of the millions of others that are just like you?

My barn door disappeared.

And all of His words and His promises that I had locked away for safe keeping, I now had to draw out and let them soak into my heart. I knew them. I’d been storing them away, even giving them to others, but I wasn’t brave enough to unlock that closet full of skeletons until it was my only hope, my last resort.

And what did I learn?

I don’t need that barn door after all. I need my kids. I need my friends. I need my church. I even need work. But mostly, I need Jesus. He has been preparing me for this moment for years. And if I hadn’t been so busy running from it, I would have seen all the ways He was trying to help me. I would have seen all the ways He was trying to show me that I wasn’t alone, that I had people in my life that cared and supported me. He was equipping me with His word and promises I needed to get me through any situation. He was there through ALL of it, even when I wasn’t looking. Even at times when I thought He let go of the bike… He was still there.

Now, when I sit in the quiet, pedaling leisurely along by myself. I think, "I got this." But even if the loose gravel catches a tire or I find my speed has gotten away from me, I've learned how to use the brakes. My Teacher is forever patient. And... He never runs out of Band-Aids. Because, let's face it, we're all going to hit the dirt on occasion. The key is to get back on and move forward.

2 Timothy 16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.