There is an almost surreal feeling inside a rain suit when it is pouring
all around you. But first you must put on the rain suit,which I always wait too
long to do. The rain will stop I hope, after getting soaked,and wishing I had.
But too many rides in the rain have taught me to keep going, sometimes
neglecting God’s common sense telling me to stop. I was riding across North
Dakota, in my rain suit, and after 190 miles the rain stopped, it got cold, 39
degrees, and I noticed my tires worn on the side of the tread, like I had been
cornering, in a sense I was, riding at an angle. Or after eating at Lucille’s
in Oklahoma, the sky was dark, but at the next exit got off after a Fedex truck
and trailer blew across two lanes. Rainy and windy and cold, at least I was
dry. Or after Theresa put her rain suit on, I again waited, and the puddle on
my seat soaked my crotch. Making little kids laugh and point when we stopped to
eat at the Machine Shed. Stupid hurts at all ages, humor funny at all ages
too. But then there was the time I stopped in Springfield, Ohio, flooding up to
my tank. Pulling into a gas station seeking shelter, lightning hit the bowling
alley next door, suddenly we didn’t feel so safe....
But if you ride, you will face storms. Not just rain, but storms of
health, relationships, finances, and broken parts. Just like Jesus warned, “in
this life you will have tribulation.” That ought to be a faith builder. But
without a storm, there is no rainbow, God’s sign he would never flood the earth
again, and a sign to those he rescued in the flood. A sign and promise for us,
he is with us in the storm and will take us through it. Sometimes kicking and
screaming like Jonah. Despite God’s efforts to bless him, he rebelled, even to
cursing the people God saved, and cursing the plant he sent to protect him from
the sun. Sound familiar? But did it ever occur to you that a detour to us is a
plan of blessing from God? How many detours or wrong turns, or changes in plans
have led you to blessings? to roads not on maps, to rides better than the one
you had planned? One choice took us down the Snake, more turns and less traffic
than the Dragon. Another across Wisconsin based on a recommendation from
another biker, whose wife had brought 21 pairs of shoes with her for the
weekend. On their Harley. Or my ride last month down the PCH, in a t-shirt!
But yet, some only can relate to “if only I had listened...”
God has given us his spirit to guide and protect, to bless and minster to.
He is along for the ride, and when we seek him first, he becomes the ride. A
ride that doesn’t have to end when the road does, or the storms break out. Like
getting caught in a bad rain and wind storm in Southern Illinois, far form
anywhere. But providing a small local truck stop for the bike, and its riders.
Meeting the locals and learning the area. Safe and secure, not what we would
have planned. How m any times have you not listened to God and wished you had?
One is too many...
So when it rains put on the rain suit, don’t be like me. Or don’t neglect
to take the jacket, it won’t get cold, when warmth is only a bungee away. Or
pass by the gas station hoping another is within your range, or hoping the diner
is still open, despite it being after hours. I have learned by doing and by not
doing, finding that like scripture tells us, “obedience is better than
sacrifice.” Like the carpenter tells us, “measure twice, cut once,” and check
the weather before heading out. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark, the
whale was;t planning on making a u-turn with Jonah. We hadn’t planned on hail
that day riding into Albuquerque, but God knew, and so can we. If only we
sought him as furtively before as we do when we are in the situation how life
would be different. Trust Jesus, not the situation, and enjoy the ride. Let
God bless you, and give you shelter from the storm. Like Dylan sang “come in
she said I’ll give you, shelter from the storm.”
No rain, no rainbow. Real bikers ride in the rain, real Christians hang
with God in the storm.
And then there was the time I rode 800 miles in the rain to visit a
girlfriend, who broke up with me when she could have done t over the phone....at
least I got to ride!
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com