Just Pedal

Jesus and I were riding a tandem bicycle. At first, I sat in  front; Jesus in the rear. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was there. I could feel his help when the road got steep. Then one day we changed seats. Suddenly everything went topsy-turvy.

When I was in control, the ride was predictable-even boring. But when Jesus took over, it got wild! I could hardly hold on. “This is madness!” I cried out. But Jesus just smiled-and said, “Pedal!”

I am a lover of front seats; I have to admit it. With a full view of the road ahead, I am pedaling as fast or slow as I want, and I steer the bike wherever I want to go.

I know I got into a ‘bike path’ rut. Confession: I am an avid volunteer. There wasn’t a committee or job I wouldn’t turn down. “Sure, I’ll do it” I’d reply. It's for my church community, so it must be a good thing, right? And maybe you’ve experienced this too-if you say ‘yes’ enough, you become the go-to gal for projects.

Bide ride after bike ride I’d travel down the same road. Commission Chair, Committee Member, Small Group Organizer, music minister, bake sale baker, sure. I’ll do that. But you know what? I think I was boring myself a little bit too. I started to think, "Yes, I can do it. But should I be doing it?"

Only in the last couple of years or so have I allowed Jesus to come on up and switch seats. I climbed in the back and started pedaling. Oh man, what a ride. I’ve become a Nana twice. My husband has been unemployed for over a year. I pulled back at church a bit. I started this blog. My mother and my mother-in-law died. It’s been pretty…eventful.

The same things would have happened if I was in the front, but I would have fooled myself into believing I had some kind of control over all this stuff. Which I don’t.  I never did. From the back seat, I can just pedal and know that Jesus will lead me through it all, and I’ll be o.k..

I’ll tell you, it’s never boring. Sometimes, I fall back into my old way of thinking and I tell Jesus we should switch back again. Some of this stuff is hard and I’d rather think I’m in control. But Jesus will still smile at me, and still encourage my pathetic pedaling.

I’m not too sure where we are going. Jesus is navigating, so who can say? But I’m glad I’m not in the front…for today anyway. Every day it’s a struggle to not jump off and bump Jesus to the rear. But I know he doesn’t belong there. That’s my spot.

Comment Question for the day: Are you in the front seat of the bike, or the back?