WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN – INSTALLMENT SIX

God was teaching me to trust him.       

        Through Scriptures which I studied after the bike ride, my spirits have been mercifully lifted. I have tended to dwell on the fact that I possessed a negative and whining attitude through the entire bike ride experience from beginning to end.   I have always realized that, yes, I obeyed God in accomplishing the day to day training and the bike ride itself.  God used his power to see that I was protected, that I progressed physically, that I had Lisa as a partner on the ride and that everything I needed was provided.  But, I accomplished the ride with a lousy attitude.  I complained and grumbled; I cried and carried on like a baby and a spoiled brat.  Did  my “stinkin’ thinking” negate my obedience? That thought has plagued me ever since that weekend in 2002 when I completed the bike ride.  The thought I now have is that even as I write this, God is still using that ride to teach me lessons; to show me things that I didn’t see before. This ride was not about the actual ride but it was a vehicle toward a greater purpose in my life.

       In 2 kings 5:1, 9-14 and in the book of Jonah, God shows us how He still worked in the lives of Naaman and Jonah even though their attitudes were deplorable. They did, however, after disobeying and expressing rotten attitudes, reverse their actions and obey God.  Because of their obedience, God worked a miracle in Naaman’s case, and saved the people of Nineveh because Jonah finally obeyed God and preached repentance to the people.  The king and the people repented thus savings themselves from destruction.  These lessons have helped me to understand that even though I did not have the right attitude, God could still use me to accomplish his goal in spite of me.   I do believe that if I would have had a right attitude from the start, I would have received blessing beyond measure and beyond which I can even imagine.

        Therefore, what have I learned here?  Next time God asks me to do a task for Him and if I find that my attitude is wrong – first I must go to Him and thank Him that He would use me and that He would change my heart.  Like the song says, “Change my heart O Lord, Make it ever true, Change my heart O Lord, Let me be like you.  I did sing that song over and over while out riding my bike but I did not pray that prayer at the outset.  It is my desire that I remember this lesson and that I pray first, next time.  I did ask Ann Rodriguez, the sweet woman from my church to pray for a change in my attitude while I was training in Hawaii and God did change it temporarily.  It shows me that I need to be in continual prayer for something, not just to pray it once and believe that the situation will be covered forever.  I need to take that problem to God on a daily basis as each situation occurs. I also now realize how important it is to be grateful for every little thing that God does for each and every one of us each day.  I need to be watchful so that I will see these things and listen for His still, quiet voice.

            I have learned that Abraham did not just begin with a great relationship with God or a perfect, obedient life.  He struggled along the way.  He was told twice by God to leave his family and go to a place that God would tell him.  The second time he obeyed partly, but he still took his nephew Lot with him which was not part of God’s plan. It wasn’t until after he finally separated himself from his nephew that God revealed His plan to Abram.  Even after this, Abram’s trust in the Lord’s providence was not total.  He left Canaan (without permission from the Lord) because he feared the famine that was in the land.  He lied about his wife because he didn’t trust the Lord to protect him from Pharaoh and his people.  But God was with him every step of the way.  When Pharaoh took Sarai, Abram’s wife as his own because Abram lied and told the Egyptians that Sarai was his sister (a half-lie because she was his half-sister, but the intent was still a lie), God kept her from the bed of Pharaoh.  God kept her safe in spite of human efforts since it was God’s plan that Sarai produce the heir from whom would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

   

       The great part of the story is that God was with Abram, (whose name God later changed to Abraham meaning father of many nations) and even though Abram/Abraham didn’t always obey right away, God did not chastise him for not obeying fully but worked with Abraham and brought him along on his journey toward their relationship until he was finally called, “A friend of God.” God was teaching Abraham to trust Him throughout all the trials he endured.  God was and is teaching me to trust Him even when what is before me seems impossible. But with God nothing is impossible.