Training Wheels

Philippians 3:13-14
  "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." 
 "Let's try again Daddy," my daughter Hannah would say with a smile glittering with excitement! It was a special day. The day we removed the training wheels off of her bike. It was my idea. I knew she was ready. Hannah, on the other hand, was apprehensive at first. Quizzing me as I removed the training wheels," Daddy are you sure this is safe?......"What if I fall?"...... " Will you catch me?" I just kept reassuring her that everything would be alright. I told her she might fall and she may even skin her knee or her elbow but if she was going to be free from those training wheels, she had to try. Then came the moment! The moment when the higher calling of a "bike free of training wheels" overcame fear. Oh what emotions are stirred in that moment! Happiness, anxiety, courage, fear, freedom and captivity! The epic battle that takes place deep inside the soul! Hannah sat up on that bike and it began. She peddled, I pushed, she peddled more. We were off, Hannah peddling while I ran beside her being the hero father who would catch her at the moment she lost her balance. She wobbled, I flenched, for a moment she got it straitened out! Then it happened.........Hannah lost control! The bike crashed to the ground and simultaneously the strong heroic arms of her father,"that's me," caught her! I held her close and cheered for joy at her try. "Wow," I yelled," you did it Hannah!" With a big confident laugh she jumped right back on that bike saying," Let's try again Daddy!"
 So many times as our Father God nudges us to a Higher Call we question what He is doing. We worry about falling. We freeze up at the mere thought of failure! The negative "what ifs" play over and over in our mind like a broken record. We refuse to leave behind that old powerless person we were before we were saved! Let me remind you that you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba Father." The word "Abba" means "Daddy!" Your Daddy loves you so much! He will challenge you, He will grow you and He will catch you when it is necessary. God will not call you to do something and then leave you alone to handle it! It is His plan. He is in control. He will run beside you. He will flench when you stumble ready to catch. He will catch you when you fall. The fall may be a tuff one. It may hurt but you must try. He will be there to pick you up, dust you off and cheer for joy at your try. Then He will put you back on track. There is a higher call for you no matter how high you may think you are. God has no peak! You will never reach the top. The walk with Jesus is a constant climb. It means there is a new challenge every day, an upward call. It's not comfortable or easy. It is where courage and fear collide. Freedom and captivity battle it out and happiness and anxiety go to blows. Christian, there is freedom on the other side! Freedom without limits to serve your God who has no limits. 
 Hannah is now ten years old and can ride a bike like a pro. She still falls now and then. And when she does, I'm watching, I go to her aid, pick her up and dust her off. It just means she gets extra attention from her Daddy. Keep striving toward the upward call, God is always there. His eyes never close in sleep, and He is always ready to pay us some extra attention