Life Without Bumpers

A few weeks ago, our Youth group went bowling.  Every bowling alley is the same, you walk through the doors and you can hear the sound of balls rolling down the lane and the pins being knocked down, to cheers from those around the skilled bowler.  The truth is this all gives me a little anxiety;I come from a family of bowlers, people who spent their Sunday nights on bowling teams, the only place I have ever felt any glory is on Wii bowling.  On the Wii I am the Michael Phelps of bowling, with controller in hand, I can take any one down in just a few frames.  My widget is always smiling and the people are always cheering.  Real life bowling is a different story. As I stand at the end of the lane, everyone watching, the gutters seem to grow as I stand there and the lane becomes narrower.  I know there is no way that I am ever going to be able to avoid those ever widening valleys.  That’s why when our Youth Pastor announced we would be using bumpers; I sang a song of sweet relief.  I could do this with the bumpers, after all any 6 year old can bowl with bumpers, right? That day I was the Michael Phelps of bowling.  I walked to the lane with confidence and cheered each time I got a strike, to the growing dismay of my husband and other competitors.  I didn’t even use those bumpers!  Each time I threw the ball with confidence and the ball sped right down the middle of the lane,often getting 3 or 4 strikes in a row.

 The stark reality is that when I stand at the lane in real life I want bumpers, whether it is a financial hurdle, a problem with my teens or my future, I freeze.  There are deep valleys on each side and the lane is narrow, I ponder how on earth I will ever do it.  Some days I feel completely sapped of mental energy and I beg Jesus for earthly bumpers. If I could just know that my financial future is safe, if I could just know that my children will stay on the right path, earthly bumpers would give peace to my every day.  I could walk in confidence to the lane knowing that everything would work out in the end. But sometimes, when I look down the lane, I can’t see the bumpers and that is when I start to panic.  The earth is an overwhelming place if we have to do it on our own.

What Jesus wants us to do is to walk up to the lane and throw the ball with confidence and speed. Ephesians 3:20 assures us that He is able to do more that we can ask or IMAGINE.  So those bumpers that I long for;they are limited by my human imagination. When I stand in hesitation at the lane He has called me to and ask for bumpers I am limiting myself.  It is my prayer that I would not only throw the ball with speed and confidence whenever He asks, but also with a faith that He will give me more than I could ever ask or imagine.  And in those moments when I truly trust in Jesus that is when I feel confident to boldly move forward down the narrow lane with a peace that transcends understanding.