The next time the group of kids met Dave at the campfire, he had a set of winter skis with him. One of the girls in the group said that she had gone skiing several times at a ski resort that was about 30 miles away, but she had never seen skis that looked like these ones. These skis were longer than usual and much narrower. The poles were longer too. Dave laughed and said that these were cross-country skis, that is why they looked so different. They were designed to be used on many types of ground, not just going downhill. They are best on ground that is mostly flat, but a cross-country skier must be able to go up hills and down hills also.
Once Dave was at a winter camp and he had a group of high school students who wanted to learn how to cross-country ski. So, he took the group to the ski shop, and they all got their skis, poles, and the boots that attached to the skis.
Dave took them to the practice area and demonstrated how to use their poles as they push off with their skis. They practiced on the flat part of the practice area until the students learned the rhythm of using the poles and pushing off with their skis. Dave also taught them how to turn.
Dave then led the group to a small hill and Dave demonstrated how to go up a hill on cross-country skis and how to go down the hill. The group practiced until they felt like they knew how to do it.
Dave then took the group onto a trail through the woods. The trail had been groomed that morning, so there were deep grooves for their skis to travel in, and that made it much easier to get used to cross-country skiing. This trail was easy, and the group could just let their skis ride in the grooves. The curves were very gradual and there were only two very small hills. The high school kids were excited! They had confidence and they believed that they were ready for a harder trail! Dave warned them that the next trail was much harder, they would need to be careful, use the skills that he had taught them, and listen to his advice. The kids agreed with this and said that they were ready.
Dave led them down the harder trail. The curves were sharper, and the hills were steeper. The high school kids took many tumbles, and there was a lot of laughter when one of them took a fall. They were learning how to handle those sharp curves and hills that were steeper. Then they came to a sign beside the trail that said, ‘Warning: Steep Hill Ahead’. The group stopped and asked Dave what they should do. Dave told them that the hill ahead was very steep and that they were not ready to try that hill yet. However, there was a bypass trail just before the steep hill, and the bypass trail went down the hill on a longer, less steep pathway. Dave said that they would take the bypass trail.
One of the boys in the group did not want to take the bypass trail. His name was Jose, and he believed that he was ready to take the trail down the steep hill. No one could change his mind, so the rest of the group went ahead and started down the bypass trail, and they stopped about halfway down so that they could watch Jose and see how he did on the steep hill.
Jose started down the steep hill and at first, he was doing good, it looked like maybe he was going to make it all the way down! Then it happened…when he was about halfway down the hill, he started to lose his balance! First it looked like he was going to fall to the side, and then it looked like he was going to fall backwards! He was waving his arms and ski poles wildly in the air, trying to keep his balance! He almost recovered his balance when suddenly he fell forward, face-first into the snow! He was going so fast that he did not stop right away, his face kept plowing through the snow for about another 15 feet!
When the group was finally able to control their laughter, they asked Jose if he was ok, and he said that he was. He then realized how funny he must have looked, as he was skiing ‘on his face’ after the fall, and he started to laugh too!
We can learn an important lesson from Jose’s fall. He was proud of his skill and abilities and thought he was much better than he really was. The steep hill humbled him and showed him that he still had much to learn.
In the Bible in Proverbs 16:18 it says:
Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
In the Bible in James 4:6-8 it says:
And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
Many times, each of us starts believing that we can handle the things that come at us in life. Like Jose, we believe that we can handle the problem in front of us, and then we fall flat on our face! God is telling us that the only way to handle the things in this life is to let go of our pride and admit to God that we need His help in everything! God wants to help us each step of this life, but if our pride gets in the way, then we ignore His help.
Make it a practice to humble yourself and admit to God that you need his help!