We just got back from our bike ride. I’m doing better, but it is definitely still a challenge for me. As I was riding I began to think about the spiritual lessons I was learning from this new adventure.

There is one very long hill that we have to climb. The ascent is gradual and so isn’t too difficult in the beginning. It gets steeper as we get a little further up the hill. Then there is a point, about half way up, where it levels out a bit. It is a brief time to regroup and catch your breath. Then the climb gets steeper. I really have to work hard to make it the rest of the way. I try not to look ahead. I just put my head down and pedal. If I look do ahead, I begin to think I will never be able to make it. If, however, I keep my head down and keep pedaling I eventually make it to the top and level ground. There’s even a bit of a downhill run before we have to make the next climb – a respite from the hard work.
Every time I reach the top of the hill my husband says, “Good job!” (He of course has already made it to the top and is riding around waiting for me.) Those words and the satisfaction of “conquering” the hill make it all worthwhile.

I think this is much like my life. There inevitably comes a time when there is a difficult hill to climb. It isn’t easy to even begin, but there is no choice except to start “pedaling”. As we climb there are times of respite where things level off a bit, but then the hill looms up in front of us once again. If we look ahead, we can become discouraged and want to give up. It just seems there is no way we can make it. However, if we realize the help we have (shifting to the easier gear for one thing – as I finally learned) and continue to move up a little bit at a time we will make it. We aren’t alone. There is Someone else there, encouraging us and giving us strength just by His very presence.

When we finally make it to the top, there is the joy of just having made it. There is the peace of coasting downhill for a while. There is the knowledge that we have grown stronger because of the challenge. There is renewed faith in knowing we didn’t have to do it all alone. He was there for every turn of the wheel, supplying everything we needed to make it to the top. He’ll be there for the next hill too.

Blessings,
Linda