My six-year-old, Ellie, is learning to ride her bike. She likes to practice any chance she gets. At this point, she uses training wheels, and she often prefers when I walk nearby. Recently, she has pedaled away on her own a few times, but she still likes it better when I can be right there.
One time, she wanted me to take her bike riding, and I was unable to. So she asked Daddy. Daddy agreed, and Ellie gave him some instructions. “I still need your help, though,” she said. “So walk by me, and put your hand on my back, just like Mommy does. Just a little; not too much. When Mommy does that, it helps me feel brave.”
I knew that when I placed my hand on her back, at about shoulder-blade level, she rode better and faster. But I had never thought about it in terms of my touch giving her courage.
Isn’t that a beautiful picture of what our Father does for us?
God knows that sometimes, we’re uncertain. Sometimes, we’re not all that brave. Other times, we’re just plain scared. So He places His hand at our back as we try to figure out how to balance. His touch is light enough so we can stretch our wings a little, but heavy enough to remind us He’s there. And He walks along beside us as we head into the unknown.
I wonder what you and I would have the confidence to attempt if we could truly grasp the fact that God’s hand is keeping us from falling.
Granted, there are times bad things do happen to us, which God chooses not to prevent. But I am describing here what happens when God calls us to do something. In other words, He asks us to learn to ride.
God never calls us to something we’re unable to do, then refuses to help us learn to do it. He doesn’t set us up to fail. He wants us to succeed. He wants us to be able to perform the work He has for us. So He does everything in His incredible power to fit us for fulfilling our calling.
You might be learning how to study your Bible. Or maybe you’re trying to reach out to people more often. Maybe you’re preparing for a particular avenue of ministry, or going back to school. For sure, you’re trying to be the best mom you can be.
Friend, you don’t make the attempt alone. God is with you, and He’s even closer than right beside you. If you are His child, His spirit is within you. He will see you through this process you’ve started, for as long as it takes.
I wonder what kind of confidence it would give us if we only realized that God is right there throughout our attempts.
We could start forward in boldness, knowing that God will catch us if we begin to fall. After all, can we not trust Him to enable us to successfully perform that which He’s called us to do? You see, I know how to protect Ellie on her bike, and any loving thing I can do is only an imperfect shadow of what our Heavenly Father can do for us.
Every time Ellie and I go outside for her to practice bike riding, she chooses to place her trust in me. Why? Because she knows I have been trustworthy in the past, and she has confidence in my ability to keep her safe.
God is infinitely more trustworthy than even the best parent in the world, and He is certainly more able. Should we then not have far greater confidence in our Father than Ellie has in me?
Ellie knows she can’t ride a bike on her own. You and I know that we can’t fulfill what God has asked us to do on our own. But just as Ellie can ride when she has my help, we can accomplish anything God has called us to do when we have His enabling power—which is always.
Is there some area in your life where you’re still standing up on the porch, looking at the bike, afraid to get on and try? Have you forgotten that with your Father’s help, you can ride?
Come down off the porch. Your Father is waiting to help you.
Philippians 4:13—I am strong in all things through the one empowering me.