“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know." – Proverbs 3:5
Sandra had never been so scared in her entire life. Very cautiously she slowly climbed the narrow rope ladder . . . thirty feet . . . fifty . . . and finally onto a tiny platform which seemed miles above the onlookers below. She glanced downward. The once enormous safety net had shrunk to frighteningly small proportions. A slight breeze caused the platform to sway making it that much more petrifying.
She had always wanted to ‘fly.’ Now she tried to remember why the idea of trapeze lessons seemed like a great idea. What was she thinking?
When he called ’Go!’ she mustered all her courage and swung into space.
Flying through the air, she made three important discoveries: First, you can’t hold on to one bar while grasping for the other - you must let both hands go and leap! Second, letting go is utterly terrifying. Third, you don’t have forever to make up your mind.
She missed on her first attempt and fell helplessly to the safety net. When the catcher was within her grasp, she had failed to grab him. A second effort was equally awkward, as was a third, fourth and fifth.
The instructor grinned after her sixth failure. “Trapeze artists come in pairs,” he said. The ‘flyer’ is the one who does all the acrobatics and provides the entertainment. Most people are amazed by the flyer. But even flyers concede that the real star is the catcher. He has to be there with split-second precision, grabbing the flyer out of thin air”
“He’s called a ‘Catcher’ for a reason,“ he continued. “Stop trying to grab him; let him catch you! The trick is to “present” your arms to the catcher and let him grab you. Only once the catcher has you firmly by the wrists should you grab back.”
Up the ladder for one final try. This time Sandra abandoned the idea that she had to make the catch happen. She reached out . . . and felt his hands wrap solidly around her wrists. A perfect catch!
Sound familiar?
We are all God’s children; He’s always there for us. Don’t be afraid – he’ll be there when you leap. Don’t try to grab Him . . . He’ll grab you! Just stretch out your arms and trust Him to catch you in His loving arms.
Holy Father, teach us to be like Abram who You commanded to leave behind the comfortable things in his life to grip the insecurity of a completely unknown destination. Help us to leave our comfort zones and leap into the Great Unknown, trusting You for what we cannot do alone. Amen.
