I had a run-in with a tree the other day. It didn’t work out so well for me.

It was dusk when I went for a ride on the trails. I guess my depth perception was not quite on spec with the low lighting.

I cut a corner kind of tight and my shoulder clipped a tree as I went by. I think I only polished the bark of the tree, but it gave me a nice-sized raspberry.

It almost, but not quite, knocked me off my bike. It did send me on a collision course with another tree. Fortunately, I kept my balance and narrowly avoided the tree on the other side of the trail.

It’s not the first time I’ve been stopped by a tree while riding trails on my mountain bike.

There was one time when I came around a corner, and a recent storm had caused a large tree branch to hang over the trail at about shoulder height.

Well, I caught that tree with the upper part of my left arm and it kicked me right off the back of my bike. It was like I had hit the ejector button on my seat.

This time I think I misjudged the tree because I couldn’t see the trail as well as I needed to. I had some glasses on that go clear when there is little light, but I think they may have been slightly fogged up.

At any rate, soon after my incident with the tree, I took my glasses off and could see the trail and obstacles a lot better.

If this had happened years ago, that tree would have been thinner and maybe it wouldn’t have been so close to the trail. If I had hit it when it was young, it would have moved with my impact and provided a little give.

But now that tree was solid; it never even budged. It almost seemed like it was leaning in towards the trail just a little … like it was waiting for me to come by just to give me a shot.

I’m not blaming the tree; it’s not like it tripped me up. I was the one steering my bike. I take full responsibility for pointing my wheel too close and leaning in a little too early.

But I tell you, I went from traveling at about 12 km per hour to about 2, in one second.

It was like those crash tests that they do with automobiles. The auto manufacturers do it to test air bags and the car’s crash engineering. They put a dummy inside a vehicle and then they drive the vehicle into a brick wall.

In my case, I was the dummy.

I wasn’t trying to prove anything, but I now know how those dummies feel, that’s for sure.

Here’s the thing: We can be going along in life and rather quickly run into some kind of trial that stops us instantly. How you respond to that trial is important. You need to improve your eyesight, take assessment of the situation, and then put your focus on the trail ahead. Often on a trail we can’t see very far ahead, so rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Seek Him regularly and often to stay on the path and avoid further obstacles along the way.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What obstacles have knocked you back lately and how are you responding? Leave your comments below.