On a Bright Sunny Day

On a bright, sunny day, I was enjoying a bike ride. Like always, I rode from my home to a familiar path and would safely go a couple miles and then head back. But on this day, I took a different trail and entered an unfamiliar path. I came to a steep incline with bushes on each side that made the path extremely narrow.

The only words I could think of were, “Don’t think about it. Just go.” As soon as I focused on the trail, my bike got wobbly and I began to fall. I had to force myself to look down at the trail and say over and over “don’t think about it, just go.”

I was tickled by this reminder from God to not over think things. It was fun to go down that path, hearing from God and trusting Him. I had quite a sense of accomplishment at the end of the trail.

My mind drifted to similar stories in the Bible.

Rahab, the prostitute, was raised hearing of the miraculous stories of the God of the Israelites. Surely, despite all her mistakes, she wanted the Lord to be her God, the God in heaven above and on the earth below, so they promised that they would come back and save her and her family. So, she agreed to hide the spies for Joshua, and she took an oath. “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. But, what if she would have thought too much, as she waited for the men to come back to save her and her family? Her guilt and shame could have held her thoughts captive and caused her to flee. Instead she chose to not think about that and focus on anticipating making their God her God. As we now know Jesus came from her bloodline.

What if Peter continued to think too much about identifying with Jesus? Two books of the bible filled with his lessons would have had to be deleted. What if Mary of Bethany would have thought too much about anointing Jesus with expensive oil? She taught us the importance of spending time with Jesus.

So many stories of faith and trust depended on the men and women of the Bible to not think too much. How many times did I miss out on experiencing God because of my thinking too much? How many times have you missed out on God by thinking too much?

AUTHOR QUOTE: Stop thinking too much! It could hinder the work of God.

BIBLE VERSE: “But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho-and she lives among the Israelites to this day” (Joshua 6:25 NIV).