Riding A Rough Road

Yesterday, Taylor (my oldest son) and I decided we would go on a bike ride. We buckled our helmets, donned our padded riding gloves and shorts, filled our water bottles, and got on the saddle of our bikes for a good workout. I was proud of Taylor for keeping up as he did on an inferior bike than the bike I was riding. The first five miles or so went very smoothly. As we coasted down a hill to a stop sign I looked over at Taylor and told him we had a choice to make. We could turn around and go back the way we came. We could turn to the right and go the semi-challenging way or we could turn to the left and go to the hardest challenge. Without hesitating he replied that he wanted the hardest challenge because it would make him better. The hardest challenge way is laid out with seven difficult hills, some of them very steep. We turned left and after a mile or so came to the first hill, Taylor breezed up the hill with ease as I labored to get my large frame pedaled to the top. We surmounted the hill only to discover trouble ahead. The pavement had been stripped off the road leaving a dirt gravel base. It was a very rough road. This was not a problem for Taylor. He was riding a mountain bike built for such terrain. I, on the other hand, was riding a racing bike with thinner high pressure tires which could easily be punctured by the rocks. I told Taylor he could go on without me and wait for me at the end of the road because I have slow my pace to a crawl to navigate the rough road without damaging my tires. It was a rough ride and I had to creep along seeking to dodge rocks and riding my brakes down the steep hills so I would not puncture my tires. It was frustrating. Everything in me wanted to pedal harder and faster as I watched Taylor pull ahead and slowly ride out of my sight. I felt every bump, every rock I incidentally rode over, and each hole I could not avoid. It was a dawdling pace I kept preserving my tires. I had to be painstakingly precise as to the route I took on the rough road. I looked for the smoothest grooves with the least amount of rocks and the most flat and worn surface. There are many times in life when we are forced to ride some rough roads. It was never our choice to have to do so but along this journey of life many have found the ride to be rough and long. Sometimes it is God Himself who leads us down the rough riding roads. We may not understand His reasons but regardless we find ourselves ducking and dodging obstacles and pot holes that slow our progress. As I sluggishly made my way I kept thinking about two things. I thought about Taylor being so far in front in me and how he was better equipped to deal with the adverse conditions. He rode so far ahead that I could no longer see him but I could envision him in my mind at the end of the rough ride waiting on me. That kept me pushing onward and forward. I knew that if I kept at it I would eventually make it to the end and Taylor would be there waiting for me. Many of us have loved ones who have already preceded us in death. They have already ridden the rough roads and crossed the finished line. They are waiting on the other side of the rough ride of this life and have been ushered into the smooth existence of eternity in Heaven. They too faced obstacles and challenges but they did not quit and finished the course set before them. [Heb 12:1] Their examples should inspire all of us to keep pedaling, to keep climbing the steep hills, and to endure the rough roads of life. Just as sure as there are rough roads there are also smooth ones as well. There are seasons in life when every step or every revolution of the pedal does not feel like a chore. In fact there are times in life when it can feel like we are coasting down hill on a smooth road. The second thing I thought about during that rough ride was that smoother roads were ahead. We can get so tunnel vision at times thinking that our whole life is going uphill on a rough road. We entertain thoughts that it will never get better even though all of us have known the path of lesser resistance and the wheels of our lives have spun on the smooth surfaces. Sure enough I finally made it to the end of the rough road and there was Taylor waiting on me. He mounted back up and fell in behind me as we turned left to ride on my favorite road in Paradise. It is a smooth road with a few hills but a road where you can really generate some speed. I turned to yell at Taylor informing him that we were going to pick up the pace and off we went back toward home. We reached high end speeds and sailed all the way back to the elementary school before splitting; Taylor to go home and me back to my office to park my bike and get the car. The rough roads in life serve to make us appreciate the smooth ones all the more. Let me leave you with a scripture to help you through life’s rough roads. Behold I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make roadways in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. [Is 40:19] Did you catch that? God makes roads in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. God smoothes the way of our lives even when it seems impossible. Many times in our lives He may lead us to ride the rough roads for a season but smooth roads await us if not in this life then for certainty in Heaven for all those who have trusted Christ as their Savior. So keep pedaling and keep persevering. Smooth roads are ahead.