by Shannon Rayford

Created on: June 16, 2008   Last Updated: December 10, 2008

When my parents taught me to ride a bike they held the bike steady as I nervously gripped the handlebars and sat on the banana seat. As I wobbled down the road, one of my parents held on to the back of the seat while the other waited down the street for me as if they were waiting for me at the finish line of a marathon. I pedaled and pedaled, and then I looked back and noticed that no one was holding on to my seat anymore. I lost my balance and fell.

When my parents let go of that bike they were not turning away from me. The purpose of them holding on in the beginning was to guide me in the right direction and teach me how to do it on my own. If they had not done that, I would still be riding bikes with either my mother or my father holding on the back.

Just as my parents' letting go did not mean they were turning away from me, God letting go does not mean He is turning away from us. He is our guide and our teacher, not our director and oppressor. If my parents never let go, then what would be the purpose of me having a bike? If God never lets go, what would be the purpose of us having a mind and body of our own?

Take the story of Moses and the Israelites. In Exodus 32, Moses has gone on top of Mount Sinai to receive the Commandments from the Lord. When the Israelites see how long Moses has been gone, they tell Aaron, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who has brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what happened to him." (Exodus 32:1) The Israelites think that Moses and God abandoned them, but God is fully aware of everything. When Aaron makes the golden calf for the Israelites to worship, God tells Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you have brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf." (Exodus 32:7-8)

In this story, God has given the Israelites the commandments to follow, but he also gives them the free will to choose to follow them or not. It was not God who turned away from them, but they turned away from God. God could have easily stopped them before they made the golden calf, but what would they have learned from that? My parents could have easily stopped me from falling by keeping their hand on the back of my bike, but I would not have the freedom to turn, go faster, slow down, or stop when I wanted to.

Although God let's go of the back of our seats sometimes, we must remember if He didn't, we would not have free will. We must also remember that He will be there to pick us up if we fall and He is waiting for us with open arms to embrace us at the finish line of life's marathon. Sometimes, it appears He's not there when we're looking for him, but just as I had one parent behind me to pick me up if I fell and another parent in front of me to celebrate if I did not, God is there for us in the same way. It is up to us to decide if we want to go on the path He has taught us so we can meet Him at the end, or turn and go a different route.

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