One of my favourite saying is that "I'm not afraid of heights, just the edge". Another favourite is "live on the edge, but don't fall off". I think I'm going to have to rethink my philosophy of "living on the edge". I suppose that your "edge" depends on where you draw your line. It also depends on your thrill threshold.
I've started another adventure and it has been so exciting! It all starts with a leap of faith. But the first step of the leap is AWAY from the edge. If you decide to live on the edge, you'll never take the leap.
I realized that taking the leap requires a certain amount of positioning to get you to the point of take off. This is also the time you spend the most time trusting, deliberating, debating or talking yourself out of taking the leap. There is an inherent danger in leaping foolishly with reckless abandon. There is always the possibility that you will plummet to a certain death. When you take a leap of faith, you will either have a thrilling free fall or you will soar. When you take a leap of faith, to follow a calling that God gives you, He will give you the equipment you need to guide you safely through, but often He provides it after you take off.
That reminds me of the safety gear we wore when we went ziplining in New Brunswick this summer. None of us would have dreamed of stepping off the first platform without a harness. 3/4's of the way through the course we barely noticed that it was even there because it became second nature. Clip on, clip off, clip the other on, clip the other one off. But God doesn't always work that way.When you live as someone called by God, and He calls you to do something, you can just go....knowing that your flight plan has already been filed and that He goes before you. The view and the journey are both incredible. Along the way, lives intersect with yours as you cross paths, journey together, and build relationships and community.
It's not about where your draw your line, it's about whether you're willing to cross it to follow your Calling.
3 comments:
I love the analogy. Maybe it's because I was with you and know exactly what you mean! :)
I hope all is well with your family. And, I hope everything is well with you too!
Love and miss you!
~ M
Very well put. So true that we need to get moving first, before we see the lifeline that comes attached with the task. It takes faith to make that first step I guess. I love the way you wrote this story. And love the memories that came flooding back, the slippery logs, the rain, the heights AND the safety lines.
I can identify with living life from a safe place - I don't do very well with "edges". I tend to wear the safety harness all the time, checking often to make sure it's still intact. And then in the space of a day and a half, I read this, and two devotionals that I regularly read, and all three dealt with living on the edge.... hmmm, is there a message in there for me?
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