Up and Riding Again

“I just can’t do it!” I heard a little girl of about seven screaming at her playmates as they all zoomed past on their scooters laughing at her inability to maintain balance on her own. In frustration she threw her scooter aside, and with arms crossed in defiance, tears filled her eyes. Her playmates laughed all the more. Some friends, but that’s all a part of childhood, facing our failures, the mockery of others, the embarrassment and the fortitude to try again. We are not surprised at such behavior from children. The astonishment is when such mockery comes from the cruelty of adults.

We all want to succeed, be it in our work, our sports participation, our relationships, and for the Christian, we want to be successful in maintaining a close walk with God. There are times we are walking in heights of hope as we know the nearness of God leading day by day. The Holy Spirit speaks helpful and joyful truths from God’s Word into our lives. Peace and courage in the Lord abounds. We can’t imagine it would ever be any different. However, one day failure knocks on our door. We know what our Father wants us to do in a certain situation, but we tell ourselves we’ll fully obey tomorrow, but tomorrow is so busy with the things of life that we give little thought of God. This is the first step towards joy and inner peace fading away. This has happened to all of us, but what do we do when it happens to someone else?

It is during such moments in one’s life, when we observe a brother or sister going through a hard time, their faith weakening, that we can all make the same childish mistakes as the playmates making fun of the little girl who couldn’t yet ride a scooter. We notice the struggling Christian, but Satan has noticed, too. He whispers to us, “At least you’re not like that person who is guilty of this and that and the other thing.” Gleefully, we agree, puffing ourselves up in pride that we’re better than the fallen one. We’ve all done this, measuring the success of our spirituality by the failure of someone else. Let’s take note of I Corinthians 10:12-13 (NLT), If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptations to be more than we can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. He shows us a way out, but we can refuse the guidance and still go the wrong way. How thankful we are to our Father for I John 1:9, When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (KJV). Let us grab hold of the wonderful truth of that verse, and let us be quick to encourage a struggling brother or sister that they, too, can get back on the joyful path of forgiveness.

We all experience success in our walk with God, and we all, like the little girl learning to ride, occasionally fall off our scooters as we ride through life’s obstacles. Let us ride together, encouraging one another and building each other up (I Thessalonians 5:11) for it may be just around the corner we lose balance and fall. How lovely it will be when someone lends a hand of support to get us up and riding again.