Have you ever gone on a great trip and then encountered a problem that almost wrecked all your best plans? Ten years ago, I did a 3 day, 320 km bicycle ride from Jasper, Alberta to Canmore, Alberta. What a great ride! The first day Thomas Hall and I rode over 120 km from Jasper to the Columbia Icefields. This highway is spectacular; the mountains, rivers, forests and scenery are unbelievably gorgeous.
I had never done a ride of this length before, so I was little worried that I had all the necessary gear for any problems that I might encounter. Overall, my bike worked great, but the first day I did have a problem that plagues many bicyclists. I had a flat tire.
I had brought along two extra inner tubes, so I promptly took off the old inner tube, replaced it and used a CO2 cartridge to inflate my thin racing tire. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the time to find out why I had gotten the flat in the first place… and within the hour my tire went flat again.
I eventually discovered a very small piece of wire embedded in my tire. A small problem that made my first day of bicycling very uncomfortable. I spent the last 50 kilometres of that first day hand pumping up my tire every 5 km. Such a hassle!
Small problems can sometimes can plague our lives: Overspending, overeating, wasting time, being impatient, laziness, being disorganized, losing our temper, fear, unnecessary guilt… and the list goes on. And often we don’t take the necessary steps to fix our problems so they consistently become a thorn in our flesh. They keep us from living our lives as successfully as we could.
What small problems has God been speaking to you about lately? Are you listening? What small area in your life can you still improve on? Often, if we don’t deal with the small problems, they can make our life quite uncomfortable. They can keep us from ‘God’s best’ in our lives.
My desire is to learn to overcome every small problem area in my life. To live a full, abundant life that accomplishes everything that God wants me to accomplish. Paul said it this way:
I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT)
So my advice is, address those little issues that God is speaking to you about. Deal with them and take whatever steps you need to overcome those problems. Life is too short to allow those little things to steal your joy! Life is too short to not fix those problem areas that are keeping us from living our best life now!
Prayer: Dear God, I thank you that you care about all the details of my life! Lord, please help me to overcome any obstacles and problems that I still need to deal with. Create in my a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me. Help me to live my life with joy and abundance. I know with your help, I can overcome any problem. I thank You, Lord, that you are helping me daily. I know that You are with me always. My hope is in You.
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