Tight Places

Last Saturday my husband and I went mountain bike riding at a new state park which just recently opened south of Colorado Springs. What we had seen of trails from driving past a few weeks prior looked fairly easy. There were wide paths traversing through some beautiful meadows. Okay, I can do that. Mind you, I have only been riding a bike for about one year. The only other bike I have owned was the purple banana-seated one I got as birthday gift when I turned six or seven.

So we get to the park, and take off on one of the more narrow trails heading away from the parking lot. Not any are marked with difficulty level. Yep, you can see what's coming. After about 5-10 minutes (not the hour it seemed!) we climbed out onto a narrow, at times rocky single track trail. I don't know how to ride over rocks, I am not particularly fond of riding uphill, I HATE consticted places!

But we kept riding. I struggled a lot, battling fear and feeling completely overwhelmed. Not feelings I like. As a matter of fact, usually when I feel these emotions, I panic. Not a good thing to do on a mountain bike.

Not a good thing on skis either. This is the same feeling I get when I have tried to ski down black runs (Difficult classification!) with David and the kids in the winter. I have always maintained that the moguls (big snow-covered hills on a run) are okay if they would just spread them apart. I hate feeling trapped in the gutter (the bottoms between the hills).

And yesterday as I was pondering these things it occurred to me that this is a common fear I have in many situations ranging from physical activities to financial to emotional and spiritual. God came to set us free. He never intended for me to be bound in fear.

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free" (Gal. 5:1)
The definition of the word freedom, eleutheria, here is freedom, generosity, independence. It is a distinctive blessing of grace. The exact opposite of slavery or having to follow a prescribed course. The Lord also showed me this is related to trust.

"When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You" (Ps. 56:3).
The word for trust, batach, means to attach oneself, to trust, confide in, feel safe, be confident, secure, careless. It represents the feeling of well-being from knowing the rug won't be pulled out from under you.

I still need to have both of these worked into me because no matter what the circumstance may be, no matter how tightly constrained I may feel, the Lord always has freedom for me that flows as a result of the grace I receive in trusting Him.

And by the way, I actually gained some new skills on the bike and surprisingly enjoyed most of the ride through beautiful country, taking it slow and learning along the journey.

Blessings.