Last summer my five-year-old daughter learned how to ride a bike without any training wheels. In the space of less than a week, she went from tenderly balancing on her bike around our neighbourhood to riding her brother’s old BMX racing bike on the track.
There is nothing more terrifying than watching your precious baby wobbly racing on a track. Her first big provincial race she asked me if I would come up into the start gates and hold her tire. I would go and steadily hold her tire while she balanced in the gate waiting for the gate to drop and the race to begin. She is fearless, even after experiencing falls. She says as long as I hold her tire in the beginning, she will be strong throughout.
The psalmist reminds us that God is our stronghold. God is there to hold our tire and steady us before our race through life. God is our refuge.
When my daughter crashes and falls, I race out to embrace her and pick her up again. She is always ready to go again, as long as I hold her tire.
Dear Lord, as we run this race through life that is set before us, thank you for being there not only to catch us when we fall but to hold our tire before we even start. You are our stronghold. Amen. —