“Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.” (Ps 27:3 NIV)

What can be more frightening than war?

Bicycles!

I am so sorry for making you feel perplexed, but bikes can, really frighten you! Let me explain:

While visiting Videy, a beautiful island off the coast of Reykjavik, Iceland, we happened to find some bikes, left on the island for the use of tourists. As the bikes were free, we figured it would make our trip around the island more pleasurable.

Little did we know it would make it more terrifying!

To begin with, the bikes weren’t the right size for us. I felt like an oversized giant on a tiny kid’s bicycle, with my knees almost hitting my face each time I tried to pedal. No wonder bystanders stepped out of my way when they saw me coming!

But even worse, it was too late when we realized that most of our bicycles did not have functioning brakes, and the only one that did, had only one brake that functioned! None of the gears worked on any of the bikes, and the front wheel on my youngest son’s bike was not even aligned with the back one! Try to ride a bike in such conditions!

There was one advantage to my bike. It was easy to climb hills with it! And that I did, easily passing each of the other members of my family. However the opposite became reality when it was a downhill or a flat surface. Guess who arrived last each time!

Initially the road was great. This was actually unfortunate, because otherwise we would have realized right from the beginning that these bikes were dangerous. But when the path became pebbled, with lots of well-disguised potholes, it was a different story. In fact, at one point, the path became nothing but a tire rut hidden in the long grass! We couldn’t even see where we were going! It’s a good thing that Videy island isn’t littered with landmines!

You can imagine why Psalms 27 became so important to me that day!

In all reality, despite the terror of those bikes, this was actually my most enjoyable experience on Videy. When we finally returned the bikes and were limping away, we noticed two people examining the bikes we had just returned. I couldn’t resist . . .

“Have fun!”

With God at our side, any terrifying circumstance can be turned into a blessing. We need to be open to His lead; otherwise our situation will turn into the nightmare we imagined.

So often we live in terror, but most of the things we fear are mostly imagined. Take for example the magnificent Citadel in old Quebec City. The star-shaped fortifications were built between 1820 and 1831 for the sole purpose of securing the strategic heights in case of an U.S. invasion. However, the supposed enemy never arrived!

Life is like a trip. We decide if we will enjoy or not.

Would you like to have a bike from Videy?

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “Devotions From the Psalms” devotional series, please click here.)