Thursday, June 15, 2023

 

Hitching a Ride

June 15

Rescue me from my enemies, O LORDmay your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Psalm 143:9, 10

Being a bike messenger in New York City isn’t for the feint 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 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 only the wise who know Who true power comes from, and do not hesitate to ask God if they can ‘hitch’ a ride. The really wise ones 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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