Hills of Faith

I pulled out my bike this morning for an early ride around Runaway Bay. While we love the serenity of this community there are hills everywhere. Hills present great challenges for runners and cyclist. This morning proved no exception. Thirteen hills in less than an hour of riding. Two of them were pretty brutal.

That pretty much sums up where I am in life. I am pedaling but there are many hills. This week I have two doctor's appointments. I may not like the results of either but I must keep pedaling. There are other hills as well. I keep pedaling slowly making my way to the top. Each hill is a challenge to my faith. Will I keep pressing on or do I quit. To this point I keep pedaling through prayer to traverse the top of each challenge.

At one point, while riding this morning, I crossed paths with a lady walking down a hill just as I started to climb. Life is like that. There are seasons when you get to coast down hill. Life is a breeze and requires little effort. Everything goes your way. These are sweet seasons and should not be taken for granted. These are times in life when you get to coast, and yet you still make progress with little to no effort.

There are other seasons when life is an uphill climb. Each revolution of the pedals puts more strain on your muscles until they begin to burn, throb in pain, and cry out for relief. Every glance upward screams the message, You have such a long way to the top. Just turn back." The faith warrior inside
 steps up the challenge and shouts back, "Just keep pedaling. One revolution at a time and you will reach the top! DON'T QUIT! NEVER GIVE UP!"

I think of the widow or widower who have to drag themselves out of bed each day and face the challenges without their soul mate. I think of the poverty stricken who always need God's provision and live from one prayer to the next. I think of those with chronic pain and disease who gut out each day in pain and the mental anguish of knowing apart from a miracle there will be no relief until death. I think of the divorced wife or husband who grieve like someone died but have to live with the horror that their  other half still lives. There are those who sank their life, money, talents, as well as hopes and dreams in a project that has not turned out like expected. The dream feels more like a nightmare. Each of these people keep pedaling climbing the hills in from of them day after day. This is inspiring to me.

I wrote this before. There are times when quitting feels more appealing than finishing. There are times when turning around and heading downhill are more attractive than climbing to the top. There are times when hitching your life to another wagon looks more alluring than staying hitched where you are. As an example of suffering and patience brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold,  we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. [James 5:11] Remain steadfast and never quit climbing.