I do those 30 and 60 mile bike tours every now and then. A few years ago\u00a0I did the 60-mile bike tour for MS in New York. The weather on the day of the ride was absolutely perfect for the ride. Arrows posted all along the route showed us the way to go. The ride took us through Manhattan, from the South Street Seaport, up the FDR, across town, down the West Side Highway, into the Lincoln Tunnel (you haven\u2019t lived until you\u2019ve coasted at 35-40 MPH through the Lincoln Tunnel), through Hoboken and Edgewater, New Jersey, and into the Palisades.<\/p>\n
I stop here, because this is where today\u2019s adventure begins.<\/p>\n
The Palisades, for those who don\u2019t know it, is a National Recreation Area in New Jersey. It\u2019s a beautiful bit of wilderness running along a cliff facing New York City. At certain points in the Palisades, you can look down and see a great view of Manhattan.<\/p>\n
I knew I was in for a bit of a challenge, because even when I drive up the Palisades, I get exhausted. Now, here I was with a mountain bike and legs that had already ridden about 45 miles, against these mountains.<\/p>\n
I gave it the old college try. I rode up until my legs gave out. Then, I took the bike and walked up. My average speed of 12-15 MPH suddenly went down, as I trudged up the mountain at 1-2 MPH. Still, there was no turning back.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d made it past the roughest parts of the trail. Now, there were a bunch of roads that were mostly downhill. There was one in particular where I just coasted and coasted downhill. But suddenly, something seemed wrong.<\/p>\n
All through the ride, I had always had at least 3-4 bikers within shouting distance. Suddenly, I was all by myself.<\/p>\n
Then I realized\u2014I haven\u2019t seen an arrow in quite some time.<\/p>\n
Panic started to set in. A few minutes later, I saw two guys with bike jerseys in the distance walking up the hill with their bikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMS Bike Tour?\u201d they asked.
\n\u201cYep,\u201d I responded.<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t have to say any more. We had all missed a turn somewhere. I joined them in the arduous trek back up the hill.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, I looked down that hill, and it looked awful tempting to keep going down. I looked up the hill, to where my missed turn was, and I wasn\u2019t looking forward to yet again proving Newton\u2019s Third Law. But I swallowed hard, got off my seat, and walked my bike with the other guys back to the point we all missed, probably a good mile up the hill.<\/p>\n
We got to the intersection. Surely enough, the sign was there, but really hard to see. We got on our bikes. It made me a little late, but I still finished the ride, back over the George Washington Bridge, and down to Chelsea Piers. I had finished my own triathalon\u2014I biked, I walked, and I crawled. But I finished.<\/p>\n
Sometimes God\u2019s will is very clear. But quite often, even after things have been made abundantly clear to us, we still want to press forward with our own way.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been in that boat many times, as I\u2019m sure you have too. I\u2019d want something with all my heart. I\u2019d be convinced that it is the best thing for me. I\u2019d try my best to achieve it. I\u2019d even pray and pray asking God to make that thing happen in my life.<\/p>\n
But everything would fall apart.<\/p>\n
But, I\u2019d press on. Maybe\u2026maybe God didn\u2019t hear me. I\u2019ll pray harder. I\u2019ll spend day and night hoping and hoping for what I want. After all, I know what\u2019s best for myself, right? I know what \u201cfeels right\u201d to me. And that must be the best for me.<\/p>\n
I guess as I get older, I realize something. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s best for myself at all. Because feelings lie.<\/p>\n
The funny thing is, I look at my life today, and\u2026I like it. A lot. And I wouldn\u2019t have gotten to this point had I not gone through the uphill climbs, the soreness, the fatigue. Had I had a choice, I would never have faced any of those things. But I did, and it made me who I am today.<\/p>\n
We can only see what\u2019s right in front of me. We don\u2019t know the twists and turns on the road ahead. Sure, there might be a road where the arrow points to the left, but the downhill slope straight ahead is just so tempting you want to ignore the sign and speed down the slope. But if you do that, be prepared to crawl back up.<\/p>\n
Are there things I wish I had that I don\u2019t have? Of course. But it\u2019s just not time for that arrow yet. I\u2019ll keep an eye out for the arrow, and when the time comes, I\u2019ll follow it, just as I\u2019ve followed the others that have gotten me to where I am. The one who placed the arrows there knows the right road to lead me to the finish line and the goody bag. Refrain<\/em> 2.<\/em> Refrain<\/em><\/p>\n 3.<\/em> Refrain<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I do those 30 and 60 mile bike tours every now and then. A few years ago\u00a0I did the 60-mile bike tour for MS in New York. The weather on the day of the ride was absolutely perfect for the ride. Arrows posted all along the route showed us the way to go. The ride […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotionals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/namethathymn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/namethathymn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/namethathymn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namethathymn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namethathymn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/namethathymn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/namethathymn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namethathymn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namethathymn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n1.<\/em>
\nSavior, lead me, lest I stray,<\/em>
\nGently lead me all the way;<\/em>
\nI am safe when by Thy side,<\/em>
\nI would in Thy love abide.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nLead me, lead me, Savior, lead me lest I stray;<\/em>
\nGently down the stream of time,<\/em>
\nLead me, Savior, all the way.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThou the refuge of my soul<\/em>
\nWhen life\u2019s stormy billows roll;<\/em>
\nI am safe when Thou art nigh,<\/em>
\nAll my hopes on Thee rely.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nSavior, lead me, then at last,<\/em>
\nWhen the storm of life is past,<\/em>
\nTo the land of endless day,<\/em>
\nWhere all tears are wiped away.<\/em><\/p>\n