Just Keep Peddling

This past Sunday, we didn't have a scheduled service, so we decided to attend my home church where I grew up which is not far from where we've been staying. Already ready to go by 9:00am for a 10:30am service and knowing the church was only 2-3 miles away, I decided to walk to church on a beautiful day. I asked Jonah if he wanted to go with me. Of course, he did.

Jonah has one of those tricycles that has an optional handle in the back to push. So whether he's peddling or not, we can push him on it. He can move the tricycle a little on his own, but he certainly couldn't have made it the 3 miles (as it turned out to be). So I walked, pushing Jonah along. Even still, he just kept peddling along the way.

At one point a thought occurred to me:

Jonah never questioned the route we took. He never questioned my decision to cross a street or when to do it. He never questioned my choice to be on one side of the road or the other. He just kept looking forward (occasionally turning to look at his surroundings) and just kept peddling.

Jonah was going for a ride on his tricycle with me, his daddy. He trusted me. And for good reason. I was born and raised in Malden. And I had been to that church hundreds (possibly thousands) of times during my life. I knew how we needed to go to get there. I knew where we were going. I knew how to get there. There were a number of ways we could have gone, but I opted for what I thought to be the best path for us. Not the shortest path. Not the path with the best views. The best path.

This isn't much different from our lives in a number of ways.

God, our heavenly Father (and no, I'm not trying to compare myself with God, just making an analogy using my role as a father), always knows where we need to go and how we need to get there. Our job is not to think we know better and question the path. Our job is to keep looking forward and just keep peddling. And similar to Jonah riding his tricycle, even though we're peddling, God's really the one enabling us to keep moving forward. It's really by His strength and not our own. But He does allow us to do our part and peddle.

We need to remember that God knows the best path for us. Not necessarily the shortest path. Not necessarily the path with the best views. But it's the best path for us!

Maybe you're going through a situation you don't understand right now. Maybe you don't understand the timing...you think you're ready to arrive at whatever is next. I want to encourage you today to trust in God. He's got this. Just keep plugging away and trusting Him. Just keep peddling.

"For who is God, but the LORD?

And who is a rock, except our God?—

the God who equipped me with strength

and made my way blameless."

Psalm 18:31, 32 (ESV)