Jumping off a Ledge

Have any of you experienced jumping off a ledge or something that was higher than a step stool? How afraid were you? Did you take that jump or did you scurry away from the edge as fast as you could?

For me, I've experienced both sides. There have been many times in my life that I wasn't afraid at all in jumping off the ledge. I was attached to a harness and I knew I would be safe because there was something to catch me. It was a controlled "jump" a jump I knew I would reach the bottom or the end. A "known" result. At first I was scared but once I did it, I wanted to go over and over again. I knew what the outcome would be every single time.

The other side is "Don't jump", it's too scary, you don't know the end result, you don't have control. This has been in my life as well. These are the situations where I can't control the outcome and can't control what will happen at the end. These situations come more often for me now than those "controlled risk" situations. Ever since beginning my relationship with God, I've definitely experienced my share of these. One might think that these would come easier over time; for me I get the same feeling each and every time one of these decisions come along.

While driving in my car, I was thinking about this and why this happens; how I can make sense of this situation. I then came to a realization, it's because of the comfortableness of the situation. Once I "jump" I begin to feel comfortable again. I am in a place where I know what will go on. I'm at the point of my journey again when another "step off the ledge" is coming. I don't know when or where or how but I can sense its coming.

I always get nervous and non adequate and etc. Any excuse I come up with I get. It's funny for me to think about that because looking at my life, I have always "jumped" headfirst into something knowing that it's because of my faith in God that I do it. I do those things because I know God will always catch me. But the real question is "Why do I have this fear every single time?"

Maybe because it's NORMAL for people to have this. It's NORMAL that I get scared. I'm like every other person in regards to this. However, I also have someone in my life that helps me with this situation. God is always there, he'll never make me jump unless He knows the outcome. The only part I have to do is TRUST and jump.

Well that will come in another post about TRUST. Until then, I leave you with a challenge: to get to the edge of your own "ledge" and ask yourself "to jump or not to jump". THAT is the real question.

Ponderings on a Thursday Morning

This may not be the most eloquent post I have written and may not include a lot of in depth thinking but it's my thinking and what I felt when I read this morning in my personal Bible Study.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. (NIV)


Everyone knows this well known verse in the Bible. It's the beginning of the whole Bible. For me it explains how powerful God is and even an additional meaning of what the "light" is and what the "darkness" can symbolize. First off, it still amazes me that God spoke those words and it happened. There was nothing before this and nothing after will have that same impact as when God spoke the world into existence. It just came to be. Sure we can all have in depth discussions of scientific explanations of how it happened and why it happened but sometimes we just have to get away from the logical and into the miraculous. It's nothing short of amazing that this happened. God said something and it happened. Just. Like. That. No need for a reason why because it came to be, no explanation. It. Just. Is. Sounds amazing doesn't it?


It's something that we can't begin to explain how it happens. It's just like how a baby is formed in a mother's womb. Sure there is the scientific explanation of how it got to be a baby in the first place but what happens when the baby is growing is all of God's doing. He has the baby in his arms from the moment of conception to eternity. He's the ultimate creator and forms everything that is in us. In our physical bodies. I know that can't be fully explained. Another one of God's miraculous creations.


Ok, onto the "Let there be light". Sure I know (and everyone else knows) that this verse is explaining how "day" was formed. Because of "day" being formed, "darkness" came into existence as well. The statement seems simple and it is but for me, it has a deeper meaning.


In the Book of John, Jesus said "I am the Light of the World". This is one of his 7 "I am" statements and for me this was referenced in the beginning of Genesis. I know there is no proof (that I know of) that this was meant to be like it is but for me it has meaning. In verse 4 "God saw that the light was good"; I immediately think of Jesus being that light in which God was referring to. That same verse goes on to say "And he separated the light from the darkness"; for me this symbolizes that he separated Jesus from the sin of the world. The things that are not of God, the things that are from men. 


From my reading and thinking, from the beginning, God has separated the things of this world from the things of Jesus. From the very beginning, God was trying to protect us from things that would happen to us that would try to pull us from God. We all know what happens next. The story of Adam and Eve and the Fall of Mankind but because of that, we are able to experience the redemptive power of Christ and what he is able to do in our own life. This also is nothing short of amazing as well.


So why would an "All Powerful God" would want to save us and redeem us from our own self? Because he cares for us and has been with us from when we weren't even in the picture yet. That why. Truly amazing. Unexplainable but at the same time, undeniable.