Train-ing

Several things coincided in my life recently.  1.  I started training for a Mini-Triathlon at the end of this month.  2.  My new Beth Moore workbook arrived.  3.  I took a Personality / Spiritual Gift profile test.  I have no idea what one has to do with the other, but God took over from there.  I'll share parts of my journey when / if God leads me. 

One thing is very clear.  I'm in training.  Spiritually, Mentally and Physically.  I have repeatedly felt Him say, "I made you free.  Now let's make you strong."

I don't know where we're going, but I trust Him and find myself growing more and more excited.  My Beth Moore book has been feeding right into that excitement.  The study is on Esther.  The theme last week; For Such a Time as This.  The lesson; Everything about us is under God's ordained and appointed time.  From our birth to our death and everything in between.

God is never surprised.

Armed with the comforting knowledge that God is in control, I left the house to do my bike workout and almost got hit by a train.  God might not be surprised, but I got the crap scared out of me.

I broke just about every rule in the book.  I had music blaring through ear buds in both ears.  I was attempting to time my ride on country roads, which caused me to forget little details like traffic...and trains.  Finally, having never encountered a train during my workouts before, I got too comfortable and assumed the coast was always clear.

I approached the tracks and noticed a woman on the other side mowing her grass look up at me with a scared look on her face.  As my front tire crossed over the first track, I sat up on my bike, removed my ear bud and looked to the right....and found myself staring at an approaching train while the driver pulled the horn.

They say your life will flash before your eyes.  I didn't see my life.  All I saw was train.  I pedaled across the tracks, the train sped by behind me and I dropped to the grass and sobbed.  How could I be so unaware of a threat the size of a train?!?

There's an obvious lesson here that I needed reminded of:  "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." 
~1 Corinthians 16:13.

God has a plan for us and we need to be alert spiritually, mentally and physically because there's an enemy much bigger than a train who would love nothing more than to derail us.
(Pun intended.) 

*I would be remiss not to point out Beth Moore's role in the whole train debacle.  If you're going to make a point of telling someone that God knows the day you're going to die, at least make it clear that it might even be today.  Geesh.