June 23, 2017 Victory

Today’s ride was long overdue! This week was not riding conducive for the most part and that makes for a bit of the “grumpies” to rear their ugly head.  Once I was riding it all slowly went away though. The sky was pretty, the air was comfortable, and the traffic was actually not bad at all considering it’s Friday night.

Once the ride got my mind calm from the past week’s events, I got thinking about my motorcycle journey to this point. Shortly after turning 50 a few years ago, with the support and encouragement from my hubby, I learned to ride. I started out on a Suzuki GZ 250. It was small and didn’t have a lot of power and was a great starter bike. At first I was actually afraid of it and wondered if I would ever really get the hang of it. I grew up riding snow machines and that was a totally different experience. Once I started practicing and took the MSF course it got better. I felt a lot more at ease riding and started to enjoy it. We then came across a good deal on a Harley Sportster 1200. I knew I wanted something bigger and although I wasn’t quite ready for it yet, it was a good deal so we go it.

Soon I started riding the Harley. It was definitely more powerful than the Suzuki and looked really good. The ride, however, was nothing to brag about. I continued to ride a lot and liked having a bike I felt had the power I needed to be able to keep up with traffic and keep up with my husband if we rode together. I put quite a few miles on the bike and loved the feeling of freedom from riding. It still just did not feel like it was “the bike” for me. I felt when I was riding it like I was always “fighting” the bike. My husband convinced me to try his Victory Gunner even though I had refused several times. The first time I rode it, it was incredible. Everything about it was so different than the Sportster and I was attached now to his bike. The Sportster had to go in the shop for a while and my husband was kind enough to let me use his bike during this time, gotta love a man that will share his bike!

Once my bike was ready to come out of the shop, I knew it had to go. I was going to either take over my husband’s bike, or get another that I “connected” with like his. On the Victory, I felt like I was now “one” with the bike and no longer fighting. Long story short, I got his bike and he got his dream bike in place of my Sportster. Now we both have the bikes we are happy with and life is good on the road getting wind therapy for both of us.

I came to realize on my ride today after all of this reminiscing, that my journey with Christ has many similarities to my bike journey. As a new Christian I was like when I was learning on the 250. I was insecure and full of doubt and fear. As I grew in Christ I became more confident, like when I decided it was time to move up to the Sportster. Although in both cases I had all the “power” I needed there was still just something not right. In both cases I was fighting battles I could not win on my own and was never completely relaxed and at peace. As my faith grew and my trust in Jesus became more evident, I realized that the power is not in me, it is completely in Him. When riding my power comes from the bike and in life my power comes from Jesus.

I cannot ride well if I don’t connect with my bike, and I cannot live well if I do not connect with Jesus. Did you notice the bike I ride is a Victory? I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I have Victory when I ride and I have victory in my daily living because of Christ. My bike is a Gunner and Jesus is “gunning ” for me every step of the way. All I have to do is give it all to Him and He will handle it all. I cannot take back a turn after I have made it on the bike, and I cannot take things back from Jesus once I give them to Him or in both cases the results will be hazardous.