Hitching
a Ride
Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD…may
your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
Psalm 143:9, 10
Being a bike messenger in New York City
isn’t for the faint of heart. Still, even the best of the best grow
weary sometimes. Wendy had had a long day and still had three
deliveries to make. She’d covered almost forty miles in stop-and-go
traffic and her legs were tired; even now, on level ground, she felt
like she was peddling uphill.
The weariness in her legs demanded
relief. Seeing an opportunity, she decided to employ a technique that
was frowned upon, yet tolerated among most cabbies. Pacing herself,
she latched hold of a cab’s rear door handle and stopped peddling.
She saw the cabbie’s grin in the side-view mirror, letting her know
he was okay with her ‘hitching’ a ride.
Ten minutes and sixteen blocks later
she released her grip, rapped on the trunk as her way of saying
“thanks”, and turned off down the street her next delivery was
on. The break had been just enough to rest her legs so she could
arrive at her remaining stops on time.
†
Humans are blessed with an indomitable
spirit, and perseverance is something we take pride in. Even so,
there are days when we feel like life is a battle and everyone and
everything is conspiring against us; we are leg-weary and peddling
uphill…we feel as if we can’t go on under our own power.
In today’s Psalm, David was in such a
situation. His life was in jeopardy and wisely he was asking for
God’s protection through the Holy Spirit’s intervention. In
essence, he was ‘hitching’ a ride, trusting in the Spirit’s
wisdom and power instead of his own.
Our drive to meet deadlines and
accomplish goals is God-given and meant to be tempered, tempered
because we need to learn to tap into the power of God instead of
launching off under our own.
Any task or activity begun in our own
power will end when we run out of strength. It is the wise who
know Who true power comes from, and do not hesitate to ask God if
they can ‘hitch’ a ride. The truly wise ask before they begin
their assignment.
Prayer
“Almighty God, may Your
Spirit guide and strengthen me as I go about my day. Amen.”
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