Last weekend was the weekend I had been waiting for for a long time. It was to be the weekend when I would get back on a motorcycle. For several weeks I had been working on getting my back in shape and I felt physically ready for it. Knowing that my bike had been sitting in the garage for a long time, having only started it occasionally since September of last year, and knowing how cold days and nights can really wreck havoc on batteries, I even ran the battery through the charger the day before. I wanted to make sure I was ready. In my mind I getting ready for a big moment and I had said to myself, "What a better way to get back on the saddle than making your first ride one to church on Sunday and praise the Lord on that day. I had just received a new helmet and took it out that morning, peeling off the protective plastic sheet from the face shield. The helmet itself I chose making sure that the paint job would allow for the inscription on it of some of my favorite Bible verses, namely John 1:4-5 and Luke 17:24.
As you probably already guessed by the tone and structure of the story it seems like the Lord had other things in mind. All the power that had been stored in the battery the day before had been drained off the battery overnight. A few days later I jokingly said to my friends, I seemd like God had decided He needed some lightning Saturday night and He had borroed the power from my motorcycle. At that time though, I did not see the humor in this. Deeply disappointed I made my way to church, and what in the back of my mind was to be a public celebration of Go's healing power, and in the secret crevasses of my mind, a celebration of my own 'awesomeness', ended up in a series of 'My bike did not start this morning' answers when friends asked how come they had not heard the thunder of the Mean Streak.
Dejected and upset, but still with a thankful spirit, I sat in midst of our community to worship God. Half way through the service a visiting lady and her daughters got on to the stage. They had come to our church to sign and praise with us. For the next few minutes, the sound technicians struggled with the music sound track and equipment while the singers patiently waited. Nothing the sound crew did seemed to be working. Not letting the circumstance phase her, and while I was sure that these singers had been rehearsing to the sound track in preparation for this event, the mother led the group in an a-capella performance that filled the halls of our church with a wonderful, soulful, and celestial sound. It became clear to me at that moment how ever present our relationship with God is. We always have an opportunity to be with Him. We always have an opportunity to praise Him. And while it is great to always prepare our hearts and souls when we will be joining others to worship Him, we should not let life's circumstances separate us from Him and take every chance we have to celebrate this, the ultimate of relationships. The thought of God should be with us at all times, and yes, when we stop to think about, we should not be able to help ourselves and just say: 'Dude!' with a wide grin on our face.
I will still get on my motorcycle, just a bit later than what I had planned, and maybe the circumstances will not be the ones I had envisioned, but still His is the road, and I will be praising Him while I rumble down the high way, pistons pumping, chrome and paint shining, and the air He placed all around us whistling by. In the end, even when things do not go our way, He is still with us.
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