Scripture tells us that the rain falls on the just and the unjust, my
translation the rider and the non-rider. None of us like riding in the rain,
but during the winter months when the weather restricts my riding, I have found
a way to enjoy the down time, and plan for the good weather. I use the winter
months to plan our summer trips, and going through magazines, watching travel
shows, and scanning the web, I find new places and rides to take. Getting info
from state tourism agencies along with free maps, I pour over them, and see
where we can go. One benefit of planning early is getting the best rate on
motels, some have already gone up in the past 60 days $10-30/night. But I find
another aspect of planning our trips, I used to overlook. In my planning, I am
really spending time with God, my planning a form of prayer, letting God know my
desires, and then he fine tunes them. Psalm 1 tells us to meditate on the Lord
throughout the day, how many include him in our plans? That over worked
scripture about how he knows the plans for us goes unheeded until we allow him
to participate in our planning. How many of us miss out on the best rides
because we fail to include him along on our rides?
Scripture also tells us that young men will dream dreams and older men have
visions, sounds like my planning sessions to me. As I plan I see the trip
unfold, and as it unfolds, I let God take me places I don’t know about, roads I
would have passed, and with him guiding avoiding storms I might have headed
right into. If Jesus Christ is not an integral part of your planning, he may
not be part of the plan at all, fortunately we are always part of his. But in
the down time from riding when I do plan, I see the flexibility in God, how to
change to meet his course, how to change routes, places to stay, and places to
eat. When I think back on all I have seen and done, I am glad I had him along,
but wonder, “I know I didn’t always obey, how much did I really miss?” A new
take on you don’t know what you’re missing until you meet the Lord. And I don’t
like to miss out!
But an intricate part of planning, maybe the most important part, is
listening. Why pray, or ask, if you don’t listen for an answer? We expect God
to hear us, shouldn’t we listen for him and his answer? How much do we overlook
or neglect because we don’t listen? Didn’t Jesus tell us “he who has an ear let
him hear,” he didn’t say he who has a mouth let him speak. Or interrupt. So
maybe a key to your prayer life is listening more. Who more than the wonderful
counselor, he who knows the plans is there better to listen to? Yet we grumble
and complain....fortunately God knows.
On our three week trip to Wisconsin six summers ago, I ended up life
flighted 250 miles and having open heart surgery. Not in our plans, as our trip
included 54 days in Albuquerque, but God did know. And a scripture given to
Theresa and I gave us peace, Isaiah 65:24, telling us that even before we pray,
God has the answers in motion. So refreshing to know God is awake and alive, it
is hard to pray when in a coma. But God never rests, still planning but not
listening? There is still time to change.....
Maybe it is selfish, but I want all the Jesus I can get. I want all the
blessings, and I love spending time with God, riding and planning. Listening
for and to his advice, for who knows the road better than Jesus, who spent his
entire ministry on it? Who better knows the lands than he who created them?
And who better knows us, than he who created us? And spending time with him is
time well spent. When we plan do we consider that today was tomorrow
yesterday? And how much today effects tomorrow? Jesus knows. Who can guide
you better, who knows the best places you like to eat? Who knows the road and
what lies ahead better than he does? Yet too many of us still go it
alone....
So many of the trips I haven ever taken have been taken in planning, days I
couldn’t ride. God has taken me to places no map shows, shared adventures only
he has seen, and with that gives me hope for or next ride. So in your planning,
in your prayer time, do you include God in the conversation? Is your prayer
time a monologue, or a dialogue? Is it a set time when it can be all the time?
Who else but the wonderful counselor, the holy spirit is needed to plan? Yet he
reveals his answers in many ways and people. Are you listening? So what are
your plans for your summer ride? I have laid out my plans and prayers to God,
now he is fine tuning them. A few direction changes, some steps retraced, some
new ones introduced. Remaining flexible in the planning and the ride, he knows
how far you can ride on a tank, and what stations are open. Pushing 600 pounds
of motorcycle is not the way I planned, but have wound up. If only I had
listened...
So present your works to the Lord, and you will find your plans well
established. Dream your dreams, how many dreams in the Bible would not have
been important if Jesus was not along? Add days to your miles, and miles to
your days. Down time is no time to be down, but a time to rest and see what God
has planned for you. He knows your heart, your desires. Who else but Jesus can
plan a better trip for you? Are you listening, can you hear him now? Where the
spirit of the Lord is liberty, for me best found in him on two wheels. He knew
that when he created me. He gave me the desire of my heart, and when he is that
desire, all things, will be added unto them. Planning and praying, the
alternative to not being able to ride. And you don’t have to wait until it
rains to do it.
Which reminds me of the times I left my raingear home, it never rains in
the desert, does it? The value of listening. God knows, now you can too.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com