Recently our daughter came to the point when she no longer needed training wheels on her bike.
We spoke and I told her when she’s ready let me know, and we’ll take the training wheels off. Because when she doesn’t use them, she could go faster and have more fun riding around the neighborhood with her brother.
Last week she said she wanted to take them off.
We practiced in the driveway a bit and she would take the bike in the backyard where she’d fall in the grass.
Then it was time for the street…!
She was quite nervous. She asked me to hold onto the back of the seat so she wouldn’t fall. As long as a I was holding her bike she was full of confidence, but as soon as she felt me let go she would lose that confidence.
So as I let go I’d run next to her offering encouragement, letting her know she was doing a great job and could keep going.
After a few rides like this she got the hang of it.
I’m reminded of the story in the Bible of Peter stepping out of the boat with Jesus in Matthew 14:22-33. Peter was full of faith when his eyes were on Jesus and confidently walked along the water. But when the wind blew his faith wavered, and he began to sink shouting, “Lord, rescue me!”
When he did so Jesus immediately reached out for Peter and pulled him from the water.
As followers of Christ we can take comfort that Jesus is present with us through our joys, trials, celebrations, sadness, or even when we fall.
It is not always easy to hold on to that faith. The wind will blow and the seas of life will rage against us. But Jesus immediately reaches out to us to bring us out of the depth.
We have no training wheels to keep us from falling in life, and striking out on faith is hard.
But let us remember God is with us.
God is our refuge and our strength.
Red Chair Music 