By Ife J. Ibitayo
I lived in Austin, Texas for three years. I never owned a car. Biking was my favorite mode of locomotion, and I remember many Saturday afternoons where I cursed myself as I returned from Half Price Books with a backpack weighed down by novels. The city is built on hilly terrain, and those knee-straining, sweat-inducing heartbreakers taught me many valuable life lessons.
Position Warps Perspective
Firstly, position warps perspective. Asaph the Psalmist once said, “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You” (Psalm 73:21-22). That was certainly true for me as I labored up those merciless mountains. Two thousand feet felt more like two thousand miles. As joggers galloped past me, I would lament, “This hill never ends.” But no hill in the world extends forever.
Oxford defines a valley as “a low area of land between hills or mountains.” This may seem pretty obvious, but all too often, we struggle out of valleys without remembering that a mountaintop awaits us if we keep on climbing.
Hills Build Endurance
Secondly, hills build endurance. My perfect city would have biking lanes you can drive a bus through, speed limits of thirty or lower (even on highways), and roads flatter than the horizon. Flat streets are my biking Red Bull: They give me wings. I fly down them, cranking up the gears as I zoom through green lights. But running (which shares many commonalities with biking) coach Laura Fountain said, “Running up hills builds strength and power in your legs, which, as well as helping you bound up hills like a mountain goat, will transfer into faster speeds on flats too.”
This principle is not just true in exercise but in life as well. The Apostle James said, “Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4). If we never train ourselves to endure challenging circumstances now, we’ll remain unprepared for them when they arise in the future. And they will come, steep mountains that no loved one can carry us over and no one can be paid to scale for us.
Descents Grant Rest
Lastly, descents grant rest. If you are riding a bike without a gear system, you’ll quickly realize that pedaling while traveling downhill is a wasted venture. You should just rest your legs and let gravity do the work. This same truth also applies to life. When we spend our vacations catching up on work or off days running errands, we are trying to furiously pedal downhill. The sage King Solomon once said, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). There is a time to work and a time to rest, a time to strive and a time to recline. We bike the race of life the best when we learn how to distinguish which is which.
Conclusion
Since I’ve moved out of Austin, I’ve lived in many cities and owned many bikes. Much to my consternation, I’ve discovered that hills are everywhere! They’re found in sunny California and windy Indiana, in steaming Texas and storming Virginia. And no matter how long we live, the hills of life will keep on popping up. But if we learn how to approach them with right perspective, climb them with right endurance, and descend them with right repose, we may just live to bike another day.
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
(James 1:12-14)