Recently I was at Fort Richardson with our youngest son Turner on an end of the year field trip. We laughed, hiked, and enjoyed the company of friends. He was filled with boundless energy running, climbing, and of course talking and talking.
As we toured the buildings Turner along with several other children began climbing on the ruins of what used to be the jail. There is little left now but broken down walls. As Turner climbed to the top of the walls I walked over to him at the highest point and asked him to jump into my arms. He immediately declined and the look on his face and his frozen body indicated that he was scared to death. I kept exhorting him to trust me. His heart was saying yes as he would shuffle closer to the edge of the six foot wall but his mind would then say no and he would lean back. This went on for several seconds.
He was in turmoil about what to do. He wanted to leap out into the arms of his father but all he could think about is what would happen if I missed and did not catch him. It was the classic battle of fear verses faith. You and I have both been there. We want to trust God, we want to leave our worries with Him and live a stress free life but then come trials and little tests that force us to trust or tumble into doubt and fear.
Child like faith is such an innocent and beautiful thing. Little children often do not know enough to give in to their fears. A child will walk right in front of a moving swing or a moving vehicle not even thinking about moving out of harms way and this can be dangerous. On the other hand a child can love with a perfect love and trust with a perfect trust. No matter how bad a day goes for those precious little ones when a loving father, mother, or grandparent whisk that child into their arms tears often dry, frowns turn upside down into smiles, and moist little eyes can shine once again with laughter and joy. Most children do not stress about things in life. There is trust that each day there will be food, shelter, clothing, and love. Tragically there are some who may learn early in life not to trust and what it means to go without but this is not the norm.
From time to time we all have to walk the edges of life. The ledge is narrow and there is trouble if we fall off. It is often while walking these narrow ledges that God comes along and says, “Jump! Trust me!” That is when we begin to back pedal and start thinking there must be another way out. Our fears too often conquer our faith.
Like it or not a great deal of life as a follower of God comes down to trusting and obeying. Here in lies a great deal of the problem. You will have a hard time trusting someone you do not know. If you have not come into a relationship with Jesus and cultivated closeness to Him through seeking to know Him better, trust may be a very hard thing for you. Trust will be even harder if your life is filled with experiences of people letting you down who were supposed to love you and be there for you. God is not like that. He is always faithful. [I Thess 5:24] Most of the things He calls us to obey require trust. A child like trust even though we face adult like issues. Regardless the words of scripture challenge us to have a child like faith,“for we walk by faith and not by sight.”[II Cor 5:7]
Our eyes can deceive us and often do. What we see tells us that God will not come through. If we really jump our eyes tell us He will not catch us and we can live our entire lives thinking God cannot really be trusted. I abhor this kind of thinking. It has paralyzed far too many churches and crippled the faith of too many people. Can God really be trusted? If we jump with the simple and pure faith of a child, will God be there and swoop us up in His Sovereign arms? Yes!
I do not know what ledge you are walking on. I am walking on a few myself. Looking down I see how I could fall on and be maimed or fail. I know the Lord is calling me to trust Him like a child. Here is the question. Do I jump? Do you jump? Faith is not really trust until we have leaped in obedience trusting God with the results. It is that very leaping that produces the fear but it is also that leaping that strengthens faith. The more I leap and the more often I experience Him catching me the more I will be able to trust Him with the future.
So, there was Turner on the ledge debating with himself whether he was going jump into my arms or not. Finally, after much deliberation, he moved toward the edge and leaped with all the spring his legs would give him catapulting himself into the air and into my arms. I was so proud of him! That is proud until the moment of truth. Of course this whole lesson on faith hinged on my catching him. While leaping he pulled his knees forward so that they would hit my chest first making it awkward to grasp him and to cling to him. It was not pretty but I caught him and we laughed and giggled. His eyes shone like brilliant rays of sunlight and I looked at him with admiration and pride as I clutched him tightly in my arms and hugged him.
O that I would learn from my son and determine to trust God and obey Him. The chorus to the old hymn “Trust and Obey” sums it up well. “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” Trust like a child and take the leap from your ledge. Your Heavenly Father will catch you.
As we toured the buildings Turner along with several other children began climbing on the ruins of what used to be the jail. There is little left now but broken down walls. As Turner climbed to the top of the walls I walked over to him at the highest point and asked him to jump into my arms. He immediately declined and the look on his face and his frozen body indicated that he was scared to death. I kept exhorting him to trust me. His heart was saying yes as he would shuffle closer to the edge of the six foot wall but his mind would then say no and he would lean back. This went on for several seconds.
He was in turmoil about what to do. He wanted to leap out into the arms of his father but all he could think about is what would happen if I missed and did not catch him. It was the classic battle of fear verses faith. You and I have both been there. We want to trust God, we want to leave our worries with Him and live a stress free life but then come trials and little tests that force us to trust or tumble into doubt and fear.
Child like faith is such an innocent and beautiful thing. Little children often do not know enough to give in to their fears. A child will walk right in front of a moving swing or a moving vehicle not even thinking about moving out of harms way and this can be dangerous. On the other hand a child can love with a perfect love and trust with a perfect trust. No matter how bad a day goes for those precious little ones when a loving father, mother, or grandparent whisk that child into their arms tears often dry, frowns turn upside down into smiles, and moist little eyes can shine once again with laughter and joy. Most children do not stress about things in life. There is trust that each day there will be food, shelter, clothing, and love. Tragically there are some who may learn early in life not to trust and what it means to go without but this is not the norm.
From time to time we all have to walk the edges of life. The ledge is narrow and there is trouble if we fall off. It is often while walking these narrow ledges that God comes along and says, “Jump! Trust me!” That is when we begin to back pedal and start thinking there must be another way out. Our fears too often conquer our faith.
Like it or not a great deal of life as a follower of God comes down to trusting and obeying. Here in lies a great deal of the problem. You will have a hard time trusting someone you do not know. If you have not come into a relationship with Jesus and cultivated closeness to Him through seeking to know Him better, trust may be a very hard thing for you. Trust will be even harder if your life is filled with experiences of people letting you down who were supposed to love you and be there for you. God is not like that. He is always faithful. [I Thess 5:24] Most of the things He calls us to obey require trust. A child like trust even though we face adult like issues. Regardless the words of scripture challenge us to have a child like faith,“for we walk by faith and not by sight.”[II Cor 5:7]
Our eyes can deceive us and often do. What we see tells us that God will not come through. If we really jump our eyes tell us He will not catch us and we can live our entire lives thinking God cannot really be trusted. I abhor this kind of thinking. It has paralyzed far too many churches and crippled the faith of too many people. Can God really be trusted? If we jump with the simple and pure faith of a child, will God be there and swoop us up in His Sovereign arms? Yes!
I do not know what ledge you are walking on. I am walking on a few myself. Looking down I see how I could fall on and be maimed or fail. I know the Lord is calling me to trust Him like a child. Here is the question. Do I jump? Do you jump? Faith is not really trust until we have leaped in obedience trusting God with the results. It is that very leaping that produces the fear but it is also that leaping that strengthens faith. The more I leap and the more often I experience Him catching me the more I will be able to trust Him with the future.
So, there was Turner on the ledge debating with himself whether he was going jump into my arms or not. Finally, after much deliberation, he moved toward the edge and leaped with all the spring his legs would give him catapulting himself into the air and into my arms. I was so proud of him! That is proud until the moment of truth. Of course this whole lesson on faith hinged on my catching him. While leaping he pulled his knees forward so that they would hit my chest first making it awkward to grasp him and to cling to him. It was not pretty but I caught him and we laughed and giggled. His eyes shone like brilliant rays of sunlight and I looked at him with admiration and pride as I clutched him tightly in my arms and hugged him.
O that I would learn from my son and determine to trust God and obey Him. The chorus to the old hymn “Trust and Obey” sums it up well. “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” Trust like a child and take the leap from your ledge. Your Heavenly Father will catch you.
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