Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:7-10
I remember when I first learned how to ride a bike. I was a four-year-old—a cynical four-year-old at that. I was convinced if I took the training wheels off my bike I’d never be able to ride it again, forever lost in a purgatory of skinned elbows and scraped knees. I was perfectly content to ride my bike with four wheels forever. I had no faith in my ability to keep it upright on only two. But my dad thought otherwise.
That dreadful, terrifying day is still burned into my memory. Dad walked outside—no doubt after watching me perform uninspired loops in the driveway.
“It’s time,” he said. I stared, wide-eyed as my dad dismantled the training contraption and prepared the bike for its christening.
My heart thumped against my chest as I climbed onto the bike. My courage failed me, and I let Dad know just how futile this exercise of adolescent maturation was. Dad wasn’t about to let me go flinging myself wildly about the street on two wheels alone, so the next words he spoke calmed my fear and gave me the confidence to press on.
“Don’t worry, Eli. I won’t let you go. I will be right here the whole time. I won’t let you fall.”
From that moment on I knew I could ride my bike. For the rest of the day, no matter how violently I drove my bike, or how wildly I swerved, he was right there to catch me, encouraging me the whole time.
“You can do it, Eli. You’re doing great.”
God does the same for us every day. No matter where we go, how far we swerve away, or how far we ride, He is always by our side—encouraging us along the way. Just like my dad held the back of my seat as I learned to pedal straight, God is there guiding us. All we have to do is trust Him. He’s there for you too.
Eli Linton is a senior at Oral Roberts University. He is studying History and Journalism, and plans to attend the Graduate school of Education next summer. Linton also writes for ORU’s student newspaper the Oracle. The Oracle was recently named winner of the OCA (Oklahoma Collegiate Association) Sequoia award, given to the best college newspaper in the state of Oklahoma.
