A month ago my sister-in-law and her daughter went sky-diving for the first time. It was a 60th birthday present for her. Much of the energy of sky-diving is focused toward one particular moment: the landing. If I had jumped out of the plane with them, but without a parachute, the first part of our descent would have been the same. We could have enjoyed the same things, except I would likely have been consumed by knowing exactly what my landing was going to be like.
In our daily lives, we do the same thing. How much energy do we spend on making sure that the outcome of our energy is exactly the way we want it. We want the sure thing, the guarantee that everything will work out in the end. The truth is, that those in Christ do have that guarantee. Hitting the ground at the of life (what we call death) has been demonstrated to be an illusion by Jesus Christ.
If I were to take a step of faith, and it turned into a spectacular and humiliating failure, I would gladly take that step if that is where God is calling me. In fact, I would be glad to take that step if I just thought it was where God was calling me and I found out later I was wrong. Every failure, every risk taken is an exercise in learning to hear God's voice and increase my dependence on Him.
The true tragedy, the true failure is when nothing is risked, when I assume my security comes from the systems and patterns of this world.
When I stand before God at the end, it will be a great dissapointment to tell him I played it safe. The tragedy is not just my own, but a tragedy for my family who will see a husband and father who chose fear, safety, and compromise. No one chooses this path for me. I choose it myself.
I also can choose a different path. I have been called to live. I will live and share that life with others. I have been called to live freely in the middle of difficult things. I will live freely. I have been shattered and humbled by the challenges of life. I will embrace that brokenness and humility.
I am the person Christ created me to be. That is who I'm called to be. That is who I will be.
Now excuse me, while I go take off my parachute.
-John M Troyer
In our daily lives, we do the same thing. How much energy do we spend on making sure that the outcome of our energy is exactly the way we want it. We want the sure thing, the guarantee that everything will work out in the end. The truth is, that those in Christ do have that guarantee. Hitting the ground at the of life (what we call death) has been demonstrated to be an illusion by Jesus Christ.
If I were to take a step of faith, and it turned into a spectacular and humiliating failure, I would gladly take that step if that is where God is calling me. In fact, I would be glad to take that step if I just thought it was where God was calling me and I found out later I was wrong. Every failure, every risk taken is an exercise in learning to hear God's voice and increase my dependence on Him.
The true tragedy, the true failure is when nothing is risked, when I assume my security comes from the systems and patterns of this world.
When I stand before God at the end, it will be a great dissapointment to tell him I played it safe. The tragedy is not just my own, but a tragedy for my family who will see a husband and father who chose fear, safety, and compromise. No one chooses this path for me. I choose it myself.
I also can choose a different path. I have been called to live. I will live and share that life with others. I have been called to live freely in the middle of difficult things. I will live freely. I have been shattered and humbled by the challenges of life. I will embrace that brokenness and humility.
I am the person Christ created me to be. That is who I'm called to be. That is who I will be.
Now excuse me, while I go take off my parachute.
-John M Troyer
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