Exposure

The temperature was around -11 °C while riding my bike to our morning men’s group before sunrise. Some sweatpants, leather toed tennis shoes, and a windbreaker with winter gloves and face coverings are normal for a short three mile ride at this temperature. No winter coat but an extra shirt in a daypack just in case. Water even starts to freeze in my water bottle. As long as I keep a good pace enough heat is generated to stay warm after a few minutes of riding. If anything is exposed it will get frostbite.

Your first question is probably, why be so stupid? I cannot answer that… The gear shifters are stiff and harder to change gears, batteries on lights do not work as well, sometimes there is snow and ice to deal with, but the good news is the tires are so cold it is very difficult to get a flat and there is no way they can be changed at that temperature anyway. Yet there is a peace being out there by yourself but not alone even if no one else is around. Doing something few others are willing to do makes life more interesting. Knowing how to survive under more extreme conditions brings confidence. One time a road took me between four beautiful large Elk who did not care about my presence at all. Maybe they were thinking the same thing you were about me while I was debating the wisdom of riding through?? Going backwards meant a few more miles of exposure and I needed to get to work on time.

God tells us to put on His full armor. If we do not we are exposed. We may survive but not without some loss. Being prepared for the spiritual battle is knowing his living Word and having a close relationship with Him. Just like the bike parts not operating the same or failing, the physical, carnal world fails in the spiritual world. I cannot see “cold”, but it is there. I cannot always see with my eyes the spiritual world, so I must walk by faith. There is physical evidence both exist. Not knowing our identity in Christ Jesus leaves us exposed, being tossed back and forth by vain wisdom leaving people to suffer. We often hear “why doesn’t God help?” when He has already given us everything necessary for life and godliness, along with a helper. There is no going backwards, there is no need to go backwards. We press forward with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead living within us. He is not a distant God but lives within us. Think of the Holy Spirit as the warmth generated as I rode the bike, making the impossible possible. God said, stir up the spirit within and out of us will flow rivers of living waters. From inside comes the Holy Spirit power to do what Jesus did and even greater things, even the things that may seem pointless (like speaking to a fig tree) or even impossible (like speaking to the storms of our lives) yet provide peace and joy in believing. I am not saying do stupid things to test God, for the believer knows from the heart and has no reason to test God. What is more ludicrous, riding a bike when it is below freezing with low visibility or battling a spiritual battle not having God’s full armor on nor having a close relationship with Jesus?