I’ve been riding my bike a little bit this summer. Just to and from the church, a five mile round trip. The route is the same from home to church and back again, but the coming and going couldn’t be more different.
I typically start pedaling in the morning when the weather is good, traffic is light, and the air is still cool. I’m just getting into riding when I reach the high school and coast at top speed down the hill to Subway. What a rush! A few minutes later, I’m parking my bike and striding into my office to work on whatever it is we pastors do during the week.
As the day goes on, I start thinking about that commute home. By late afternoon, the weather WILL have changed. It’s either going to be the hottest part of the day, or big rain drops could start falling. And no matter what, I know I’ll be straining in the lowest gear to make it back up the high school hill.
By the time I reach home, I’m hurting, and all I can I think is, “how much is an e-bike?” But a day or two later I’ll pedal off and do it all over again.
Sounds like life, doesn’t it? Sometimes, we’re coasting along, and everything’s perfect. Other times, the journey is so hard we wonder if we’ll even make it. The Apostle Paul writes about this very thing, saying he knows how to be brought low and how to abound. He says, “in any and every circumstance” he had learned the secret of contentment. The secret, he tells us, is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).
Right now, life may feel like you’re going uphill both ways. But abide in Christ, keep pedaling, and He will get you Home.
