[Wednesday's Devotional] - Right Gear for the Right Gradient

Today, after two days on the virtually flat roads of East Anglia, I will begin to encounter hills.  Life, like a good bike ride, is very rarely flat. 'Flat' is a word that's very close to 'boring' in meaning, if you want the 'highs' with the great views, it's often a hard slog getting up there and then there is inevitably the 'downs' as well.

The key to long distance living (and cycling) is selecting the right gear for the right gradient. Choose a high gear for flat stretch and your legs will spin round very fast to very little effect.  Choose the wrong gear for a steep stretch and the chances are you won't make it to the top.

How does this apply to life?  When things are really busy or hard going, we can sustain the effort to keep going but only for short periods and only if we are in the right frame of mind.  You can be very busy and move very quickly through a lot of tasks in one of two ways – frantically anxious or calmly focused.  The difference is not the amount you have to do but the attitude you have towards the amount you have to do.

And the one resource we all have as Christians to help us set the right pace and maintain that inner attitude is the presence of the Holy Spirit.

'Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit'  Galatians 5:25 [NIV]

Pause and pray for a fresh awareness of the Holy Spirit in your life, setting the pace for today.

Sheila Bridge

P.S Today is March to Earl's Barton 60 miles, pray that the hills won't be too hard.