Life on the Edge
By
Elin Henderson
“Now
unto Him who is able to keep you from falling…”
Jude
1:24a (KJV)
Do you ever get the
feeling that you are living life on the edge of a cliff? That the dirt and
rocks are crumbling under your feet, and the solid ground is threatening to
give way and send you tumbling? The pressures of life seem to be pushing us
over that edge. There is only one hope for rescue, for relief, for safety...
and that is “Him who is
able to keep you from falling.”
Many of us can testify
that we spend more of our time “on the edge” hanging on for dear life than on
solid ground. There are a lot of reasons for this. It is partly because of the
many pressures bearing upon us (family, work, friends, even church), as well as
pressures from within that we place on ourselves (guilt, attempting to appear
successful, etc.). And if that weren’t enough, our enemy is constantly trying
to use those same pressures to drive us over the edge, where we fall into the
sin of doubting God’s sufficiency.
As we are experiencing
these pressures, a panic can overtake us and send us in a desperate search for
help, for a solid footing. The world’s answer is “Eat better, to exercise, talk
to a friend, reduce our stress loads, take a vacation, etc.” While that advice
is not bad, at its best, it is only a temporary fix.
For a lasting solution,
we need to be reaching out to the ONLY source of strength, God Himself! His
strong arm is always ready to reach down and rescue us. His grip is not weak or
insufficient. He won’t let go!! Only when WE let go of HIS arm
and start reaching for other things do we find ourselves back where we started,
tottering on the edge of the cliff once more.
So the next time the
pressures of this life start pushing you towards the edge, and the ground
beneath your feet begins to crumble, reach out. Grab onto the only TRUE source
of help, the only One who can keep you stable as you live “life on the edge.”
GOING DEEPER:
1. What are some ways
that we can remind ourselves to continuously reach out to Him? Ideas:
Time in His Word, memorizing the Word, and/or prayer (on our own and with a
good friend or mentor).
2. What if we do fall?
Then what? Are we left alone to fend for ourselves? Isn’t it great that He is
there for us even when we fail and fall?
FURTHER READING:
Oakwood’s
missionaries Elin Henderson (a registered nurse) and her husband Phil serve as
church planters with New Tribes in Mozambique, Africa. Elin is mother to
fourteen-year-old Callie and eleven-year-old Elias.
