One strap around my waist. That’s it? Then I sit on the wide strap under my butt? This is a glorified playground swing with a seatbelt. Sure, there are two straps loosely around my legs, but there has got to more to this than that. Where is the full body harness?
“Ok amigo?!”
My new Mexican friend then clipped the vertical straps onto the parachute.
“Ok amigo, walk forward quickly, now sit down…”
Hey, wait a minute…is this really safe? I‘m not sure I am ok. I’m not sure this whole thing is ok. Those aren’t locking carabiners…in fact, they’re not even carabiners…are you sure this can hold my weight? How old is this contraption anyway? Are you regulated by some governing body to thoroughly check this equipment to ensure it meets or exceeds high safety standards?
And in the nanosecond it took for those thoughts to race through my mind I was off. I catapulted upwards as the boat accelerated forward. Before I knew it I was a couple hundred feet up in the air on my first parasailing adventure.
I was definitely exhilified – a combination of exhilarated and terrified.
I was yelling praise at the top of my lungs. Partly to vent the exhilification that was rapidly spilling out of me, partly to let the Lord know I was alive and very much wanted to stay that way, and partly because I was having an awesome time.
The fear I was feeling made me feel very much alive. Yeah baby, this was awesome!
Hey, now that I’m up here, those triangular metal “thingys” I am clipped into don’t look very strong. I wonder what the tensile strength of those is? They are the only things holding me up here.
Scenario after scenario began to pass through my mind about how this whole adventure could end: parachute detaches from boat and I float down into ocean. Boat stalls and I float down into ocean. My harness breaks and I drop into the ocean very quickly – that could hurt. Or, it ends the way hundreds have ended before me – I land softly on the beach after having a fabulous time.
I chose to trust the equipment, believe the latter scenario would be the case and have a fabulous time. I shifted from fear to faith. I did have a fabulous time and would do it again in a heartbeat.
I learned something from my little Mexican parasailing adventure. I had 2 choices to make: I had to “entrust” myself to the men running this operation, their expertise and their equipment, and I had to then “trust” the equipment once I was in the air and there was no turning back. If I had merely entrusted myself to this adventure and not then chosen to trust the equipment once airborne I would have spent the entire time in fear, with no peace, and not experienced the freedom and joy of this exhilarating ride.
This is a picture of our walk with Jesus. He invites us to “entrust” our lives to Him, to surrender ourselves, and to exchange our life for His. He then asks us to “trust” Him on a daily basis, to believe He will love us, lead us, guide us, counsel us, watch over us, provide for us, and protect us. To believe what He says is true, to trust His Word is true, to believe the Truth and not the lies of the enemy. To shift from fear to faith.
Even after we “give our life to Christ” – entrust ourselves to Him – we can often choose not to trust Him on a daily basis. We want to take control to protect ourselves and miss the peace, freedom and joy Jesus has for us in the midst of the adventure of life. Why? Because we do not trust Him.
Is this perhaps where you find yourself? You have entrusted your life to Christ, but you are not trusting God on a daily basis. Do you find yourself in the midst of an exhilifying adventure in Jesus without peace, freedom and joy? Perhaps you have entrusted yourself to Jesus but have not chosen to daily trust Him. He is trustworthy and worthy of your trust.
You will not experience all the peace, freedom and joy Jesus has for you until you choose to wholeheartedly trust Him and celebrate in the thrill of the journey. Until you shift from fear to faith.
Then hang on and enjoy the ride!
Proverbs 3:5, 6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Philippians 1:6
“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Hebrews 12:9
“Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!”