Staying on course
Last week my nephew had a new bicycle as a present for his third birthday. It is a very small bicycle and has training wheels. Being very excited, he went out for a ride in the park that afternoon – with much of the family following on, of course. He took to it very quickly and in no time was pedalling up and down the paths.
All was well until he reached a point where the main path went up quite steeply. He decided that this was hard work, so he changed course abruptly to the right – but did so a little too quickly! The result was that he fell off the bicycle. We all waited for the tears to start.
However, to our surprise, he jumped back up without a single sound, immediately got back on the bicycle, and happily took off back down the path. I was very impressed with how he handled himself.
I started thinking about his reaction, comparing it with how I react to my own adversities. We all fall down at some point. The question is, how do we respond? Do we give up and give in to self-pity or do we pray for strength and keep going?
There will be obstacles in the years to come for all of us, and it is crucial that we have the endurance to weather the storms of life and fulfil God’s purpose for us. On the day that I meet God, I want to be able to echo the words of St. Paul, in 2 Timothy 4: 7 :
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”