I Have Won the Challenge

Isaiah 41:10

"Fear not, I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God.  I will strengthen you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice."

I just completed my last training ride in preparation for the Villainous Viper.  Over the course of these 22 days I have spent several hours on my bike and have ridden more than 250 miles.  I feel strong.  I feel confident.  I feel at peace with my entry in the Villainous Viper ride.  But let's be honest, this whole 24 day journey and training regimen was never really about the race.  It was about what the race embodied to me in my life and the fears and the anxieties I needed to conquer.  For these 22 days I used my bike as a tool to bring me closer to God and to rediscover who I am as one of His creations.  I feel strong.  I feel confident.  I feel at peace.

Each of us has a Villainous Viper in our lives.  Perhaps our schedules are hectic, our work is less than thrilling, health issues have us worried, or our general outlook is jaded.  The challenge is for us to take the time to focus on those items, not just with our internal power, but with the power of God.  God tells us, "Look I know this is tough, but don't you worry, I have your back."  Not only does He have our back, but He is going to strengthen our resolve and hold us above the situation so that we can work the issue in His glory.  That is the key.  Phillipians 4:13 states, "I have the strength for everything through Him who empowers me."  God has gone through great lengths to bring us closer to Him.  Because of this He wants to be involved, no immersed, in our lives.  He provides strength, sure, but even more than that, He provides hope, He provides faith, and most of all He provides love.  As Paul writes to the Corinthians, "Faith, hope, and love remain, these three, but the greatest of these is love".  We are so special as individuals and as a collective body that this entity who possesses all power and domain knows us and loves us.  All He commands of us is to love Him in return and to love one another.  There is a great deal of power and strength to be found in that exchange.

I suppose the point I am making is that I tend to struggle when I do not let God into my life.  I give Him the silent treatment and try to handle situations on my own.  Generally, I find when I shut God out, things get more complicated.  But if I pause and ask for help, I can find more moments of clarity in my thoughts and more results arise from my actions.  God is great and the human mind could never fathom His true being, but He is present and He cares about us.  I firmly believe that.  I know that, because He sent His Son to atone for our sins. I hope you know that too.

Thank you for taking time out of your days to read this blog.  It has helped me in more ways than I could imagine.  I have received much encouragement from many of you and I appreciate you letting me work through my thoughts with you.  Reading through the entries I have made, I noticed that I changed a bit in my style since I began.  I think this is because I started to have a better understanding of how God was working in me the last few weeks.  Although I hope you enjoyed my writings, I was working through my own questions and testing my own faith.  Through those questions I found love is abundant in my life.  Through my family, my friends, and through God.  My prayer is that I can continue to see that love and that all of you experience it as well.