Drafting

A few weeks ago I spent a long weekend at Hilton Head with my daughter, Jody and our bikes.  We explored just about every trail we could find, and then some.

One morning we took off on the sandy beach, heading east into the sun.  I was going faster than I had ever gone before.  I was practically flying. I felt like Superwoman!

After a few miles we turned around to head back to the motel.  What I didn't realize was it wasn't all ME that was making my bike fly over the beach.  I had been riding with the wind to my back.

Now, heading west, we were riding straight into the wind and I was beginning to doubt if my legs were going to get me back to the comfort of my beach chair and a Diet Coke.

Jody knew that I was struggling.  Duh, sweat was pouring off me and I was huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf.  She moved in front and instructed me to come up behind her and stay as close as I could to her back tire.

It was freaking me out to ride that close to her.  I didn't have the confidence in my skills to be that close to someone else.  Still... when I did as she told me, the drag of the wind diminished and my ride was taking less effort.

Today I was out for a solo ride and about 10 miles from home I was riding along a country road feeling really good about myself. I wasn't having to work hard at holding my speed to about 13 mph (my average is around 9) and my legs felt really strong, until I turned around to head home and discovered I'd been riding with the wind to my back--again!

As I slowly made my way home I got to thinking about my relationship with God.

Most of the time when things are going right and I'm accomplishing great things I'm quick to take all the credit for my hard work and perseverance and not realizing/remembering that God has my back the whole time and He is the one that makes all things possible.

I fail to give God the credit (glory) for what He accomplishes in my life.

And when I hit the head winds in life (and there are always going to be head winds) I need to remember that I can draft behind Jesus every time.  I just need to have the confidence to move in close to Him and let Him lead the way.

When you draft with a fellow biker you've got to keep your eyes on them to avoid disaster.  The same is true of Jesus.  Keeping focused on Him will help me avoid disaster and although I still have to put effort in the journey, He makes it a whole lot easier!

I'm sure there's a good analogy about going up the hills.  I'll be thinking about that the next time I'm faced with one.

Pinckney Island, July 2012