I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13)
Not many of us will recognize the name of Jean-Francois Gravelet. But perhaps we are more familiar with his stage name: Blondin. A 19th-century tightrope-walker, Blondin became famous by crossing the Niagara Falls on a tightrope 1,100 feet long, suspended 160 feet above the rushing waters. In fact, he made the crossing several times, with increasing levels of difficulty: in a sack, with a wheelbarrow, on stilts, sitting down halfway across to cook an omelette. But perhaps his best known crossing was when he asked a bystander if he believed he could do it. “Absolutely!” the man replied. “I’ve got every faith in you.” “Then why don’t you come and sit on my shoulders and cross it with me?” asked Blondin. No doubt the man’s face turned pale; but he climbed on Blondin’s shoulders and risked it – and, yes, they made it safely across to the other side. Now, that’s faith!
And that’s rather how it’s meant to be with God and us. God invites us to, as it were, “climb on His shoulders” and to trust Him, rather than to stand on the sidelines with our comments, questions or advice thrown safely from a distance. Faith isn’t really faith until we step out and risk it. And the time we really risk it is when we can’t see the outcome or when the challenges are great; when our own resources are at an end; when we're “sunk” unless God steps in. But that’s what the Christian life is all about: trusting God and not ourselves. The trouble is, we go through so much of life depending on our own strength, resources and gifting (with a prayer for God to add His blessing!), that when it’s time to really have to step out in faith it comes as a shock. We start to wonder, “Where is God?” But He’s where He has always been: on the tightrope, waiting for us to climb on His shoulders.
Don’t trust in yourself – there’s no faith in that. Whatever is facing you today, climb on God’s shoulders and trust Him. He will not let you down.
Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust. (Psalm 40:4)
Copyright © 2017 Martin Manser and Mike Beaumont
