Testing our Faith

My son Sam was probably 4 years old at the time and had a colorful and determined imagination and had convinced himself that he was Batman. He would climb up the steps and jump off only to crash on the floor below and sometime he would get hurt and he would cry out, “I Know I’m Batman, I know I can fly”!!! So, knowing that he wanted to fly, I would stand at the bottom of the steps as he would climb up three or four steps, turn around and jump towards me. I would always catch him in my arms which made him happy and we’d laugh together. This went on for a quite a little while until Elijah came in the room to see what we were doing. I said to Elijah, “would you like to jump” and he said, “Sure”. So he too climbed the steps, but when he turned around and saw how far I was from him, he decided that it was too scary to take the step and leap towards me. So, I had him come down to the first step and try it, then the second and then the third and fourth and before too long he regained the trust to jump without hesitation.
Several days had passed and we did it again but Elijah had the same fear at first because he knew the reality of what could happen if I didn’t catch him, and the pain he would encounter as he hit the floor.
Recently this situation came to my mind as I was talking to a friend of mine about his business and how he was so far behind in paying his Mortgage and rent on his business and all the other bills and not having customers to keep his business going. His situation reminded me of my sons jumping off of the steps into my arms; and as think back on it, I realize why it was that he was being so apprehensive.

You see, it’s like this. We lived out in the country and our kids lived and played in a world of imagination and I decided one day to make a rocket ship with a trap door inside for them to play in. Hours and hours were spent inside and out of this thing and they had their dream come true. Then I moved the contraption over near the chicken coop so that it would not be so noticeable when you first drove into our drive way. One day Elijah had climbed on top of this contraption and somehow fell or jumped off on to a brick pile and bloodied up his face. As days went by you could see all the cuts and bruising that occurred and it was obvious that he had really taken a bad fall. The problem was, no one was there to catch him. However on the steps, I was there, and because of my love for them and because of my integrity, I always caught my boys in my arms when they jumped. Both of them eventually gained the trust to rest in the arms of their dad because they learned to trust me. Without God however, we sometimes jump into situations or fail as we make a mess out of ourselves with the decisions we’ve made. But when we are placing our trust in Him we eventually learn to leap into his arms quicker when we face danger or situations that scare us into a panic.

How do I know all of this? Well it’s quite simple it’s happened to me and it will continue to happen to everyone,who is making their way through this world. We are just as human as the person next door, but without Christ we have no hope. Jesus said, "Come unto me and i will give you rest". Jesus also said, " I will supply all of your needs according to my riches in glory", As belivers, resting in the arms of Christ should be our daily goal. And if God has a better plan for us which will glorify his name then we need to be sensitive to the leading of the holy spirit.

Bye the way, Sam is now a Marine and both Sam and Elijah have learned what it means to put their trust in the Lord.