Not made to go it alone

Dad had his hand on the back of my first bike helping me learn to ride for the first time. As we went round and round in a large circle, I looked up and there was Dad standing in front of me! I nearly fell off the bike.

I remember my brother riding his larger boy’s bike with much more bravado. He would throw his hands in the air and say, “Look, no hands!” Yet he knew that the bike would not steer itself so those ‘no hands’ trips were short. This isn’t about skill. A bicycle is not made to steer itself. The first bump will throw it off the path and often into the ditch.

Spurgeon reminds me today (as if I need reminding) that I am like a bike. I cannot go down the path of life without Him steering me, not can I expect to keep a steady course should He forsake me. I need Him, not only when I am in trouble, but all the time.

Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation! (Psalm 38:21–22)

Just as a ship left by the pilot drifts at once from her course, I also easily drift from the will of God. I am like a lamb that wanders from the safety of the sheep fold, or a plant that cannot survive without sun and rain from above. While many pride themselves in their independence and say, “I can do it myself” I have learned the danger of thinking that way.

Even when things go well, I can get in trouble and the joy of the Holy Spirit can become my goal instead of Jesus. When in sorrow, instead of turning to God, I can complain and be angry at Him. When I repent of a sin in genuine desire for change, my heart can slip into hopelessness when that change takes more time than I’d expected. When I am trusting God, that trust so easily turns to presumption. I can pray with great burdens and my prayers become me telling Almighty God what to do.

Without God, I am weak and yet often do not recognize my weakness. He cares for me, yet I can be so witless and thankless, sometimes not even noticing that He has protected and blessed me. Just when I think I’ve reached a spiritual milestone, I fall into sin and error.

Someone once said to me that it must be easier to be spiritual as I get older. I didn’t snort in almost amused denial, but I felt like it. The passing of time brings a greater sense of my need for God and for help. Nothing is easier. While He blesses my life, He does not add that human self-confidence that everyone craves. Instead, I feel more and more in need of His presence and His help.

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Lord, whether You are behind me holding the bike, or in front of me cheering me on, I need You. I cannot do this myself, none of it. Hands on or off, my life is not created to run by itself. You tell me that I am Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to fulfill the plan You have for my life. Do not desert the work of Your hands. Keep on working in me and helping me do the work You have given me.

Let Your favor, Oh Lord my God, be upon me,  and establish the work of my hands upon me; yes, establish the work of my hands! (Psalm 90:17, personalized)

(Clipart source)