To hear this Morning Devotion, please click Letting go of the handlebar
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While teaching Jessica how to ride a bike some 20 years ago, the time came when I had to take off the training wheels and then — gulp! — let go of the handlebar and seat.
I knew quite well that Jessica would fall sooner or later when she turned too sharply or became distracted and ran into something or applied the brakes without remembering to put down her feet.
And she did fall, of course.
But not without my being close by to make sure that the fall wasn’t too severe and to make sure that she had encouragement to get up to try it again.
Jessica and I both needed to test her level of learning and commitment to doing what was necessary to safely ride a bike.
Fathers need such times of testing for their children in order to know if the child has learned to do things in a proper, safe fashion.
And so it is with our Father God.
He allows times of testing in our lives so that our measure of learning about the right way of doing things might reveal the character of our faith.
If we pray more and read the Bible more and if we attend church more, then the testing displays the basis of our hope.
If we pray less, read the Bible less, attend church less — all because we’re blaming God for not protecting us — that, too, displays the basis of our hope.
Which pattern have you displayed lately during your times of testing at home or at work or at school or at the doctor’s office?
God knows that the testing of stress coming against you is not easy.
He also knows, however, that He can’t run alongside of you holding onto the handlebar and seat and still know the real measure of your reliance upon Him.
You can’t know it, either, until He withdraws His sustaining hand for a time.
In today’s One-Year Bible reading, we see God withdrawing His hand for a bit in order to reveal the depth’s of King Hezekiah’s heart. In 2 Chronicles 32, the account is given about an ominous threat against Jerusalem by King Sennacherib of Assyria.
It’s a vivid story that is filled with detail and intrigue. God miraculously protected Jerusalem and her people because Hezekiah had displayed excellent spiritual leadership.
Later in the chapter, though, Hezekiah’s faith became corrupted and pride took over for some reason. God saw this and decided it was time to let go of the handlebar and seat.
“But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart” (v. 31).
When God withdrew, it was very likely the withholding of Holy Spirit’s voice warning Hezekiah about the carnal motives of the Babylonians. Hezekiah blindly and pridefully showed off all his wealth and the kingdom’s wealth to the visiting government officials from Babylon.
Those officials went home and told their king about all the stuff in Jerusalem and the foolish king who showed it to them. Next thing you know, Babylon starts making plans for a future conquest of Jerusalem.
It’s a sad sequence, this testing that revealed pride that produced weakness that resulted in vulnerability that led to destruction and bondage.
I pray that times of testing that God allows in your life will not reveal the same, but instead will reveal a tap root of faith that cannot be pulled out by storms or droughts.
Even if the tests do lead to a fall because you pridefully turn the wrong way or you become distracted or you put the brakes on faithful living without planting your feet on the Rock, just remember that your heavenly Father is close by waiting for you to cry for help.
Just like I was with Jessica.
As always, I love you
Martin
