If you’ve been following along on social media, you know about my motorcycle adventures in the mountains of Washington. You know about the bears and the jagged rocks. The washouts that made me want to cry, the cliffs, the bee stings, the straight ups and downs that seemed impossible. Did I mention the bears? Oh my goodness - unsettling, to say the least. I dubbed that bear meetup area pee your pants pass. But that’s another story. I gave it my all on those mountains. I did my very best wrestling that 500 lb motorcycle, weighed down with baggage and emergency supplies. And despite my best efforts, in an abrupt meetup with a fallen tree, the Washington Mountains won. Yep. I crashed my bike. Hard. Hard enough to bring our motorcycle road trip to a disappointing end. Thankfully, I’m okay. And as I write to you - bruised and sore, I’m still trying to absorb all the lessons from that day on the mountain.
A prayer room with a view! (Stewart Mountain Range, Washington)
Today, here’s what’s on my heart.
Sometimes when I’m riding, I forget about the twelve inches of heavy-duty riding baggage hanging off the sides of my motorcycle.
There’s a lot going on when you’re riding through narrow mountain paths. And on the day of the accident, those bags became a bigger hazard than I would have believed.
My right rear bag caught a fallen tree and threw me completely sideways and off course.
This has happened in my own life too, and maybe you can relate.
The history of things, the stuff we’ve left behind, the heavy weight of trauma, and the jagged edges of a story we carry, can trip us up - it can catch on things and spin us blindly in different directions.
The Bible very clearly tells us to forget the former things (Is. 43:18), to forget what is behind us and reach forward to what is ahead (Phil.3:13) and that we are a new creation - the old life is gone and a new life has begun! (2 Cor. 5:17)
And yet, sometimes we find the old creeping into the new, shaking things up and creating problems.
Adding more pain.
Our past doesn’t just magically disappear, does it. And despite our best efforts, sometimes the things we’ve endured can creep back in and throw us way off course.
If that sounds familiar to you, can I encourage you?
Keep riding. I mean… keep going.
Keep trusting God. The past isn’t bigger than Him. Tell Him about the history that keeps infiltrating your now.
He already knows, but like a loving parent, He wants us to come to Him with all we’re carrying.
Shortly before my crash, somewhere between the snow zone and the sheer drop off, I stopped.
I got off my bike, took off my helmet and said to my oh-so-patient hubby, “I cannot. It’s too much. I’m scared and I don’t like this. I can’t do it.”
I admit, it was a wee bit dramatic but honestly, mountains are hard!
And do you know what that beautiful soul of a man said to me?
With patience and gentleness and a small smile that said he knew what he was talking about, he said, “you’re doing great - this is hard. And I promise you, I will get you off this mountain. Follow me. We’ll take our time. It’s going to be okay.”
Friend, my husband is not God. I know this.
But I do believe God spoke through Him. And in His words I was reminded of many similar reassurances from Heaven over the years.
And today as I write this, I want to pass along those very important words to you.
God knows what He’s doing. He knows this is hard and He knows how to get down this mountain. And as long as He is leading the way, and you’re following well, it will be okay.
Yes, I did go on to crash my bike.
But do you know what? Brent was right there to pick it up, dust me off, and MacGyver a way back to civilization. He did indeed get me off the mountain.
God doesn’t promise us a bruise-free life. He doesn’t say it won’t hurt here. In fact, He promises trouble. Pain. Loss.
But He also promises to get us Home. He also promises that He has overcome. That it’ll all be okay. That He knows the way.
That He IS the way.
My friend, God will get you down this mountain.
Trust what He says. Remember Who He is.
And follow well.
Love, Nicole
PS…. Stay tuned for more musings from the mountains 😆
With my hubby who did indeed get us off that mountain.
コメント