Free Fall

Paula-

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1: 9

Lately, I've been thinking about skydiving. No, I have never gone skydiving; nor do I ever intend to go skydiving. Why should I jump out of a perfectly good airplane? But this weekend I had an opportunity to listen to a friend describe her skydiving adventure. (One of those "God-instances").

Lenada is a retiree who is one of the most adventurous people I've met. She said that stepping out of the plane was a real rush. She was tandem jumping with an experienced diver. One of the things that really amazed her was the unbelievable force of the wind and the fact that she could still clearly hear the instructions her partner gave her. Because she is visually impaired she said she couldn't see much of anything. After free-falling for a few minutes, the 'chute was deployed and they floated gently to earth like a leaf or feather. She wants to go again.

I feel as if Randall and I are spiritually skydiving. I gave notice at work the other day. Now both of us are out of the safe, comfortable airplane and are in free-fall. Scary and exciting all at once. We can't see the ground rushing up toward us, but we know it's there. The winds of fear and doubt are buffeting us. But we are not diving solo. We are in tandem with the best partner there is. He's gone before us and knows what to do. Nothing takes Him by surprise and He never panics. If we listen to Him, we'll be able to hear His instructions and if we do exactly as He tells us, all will be well. At the appointed time, the 'chute will open and we will land gently where He wants us.
Who knows, maybe someday, I might go skydiving .... or not.

Busy

In referring to Satan's strategy, I once heard a speaker at our church say something along the lines of this: "He doesn't always need to make us bad, all he really needs to do is make us busy."

Busy. How often do we find ourselves consumed with matters from the time we get up until well after we probably should be laying down? It is NOT that what we do is not beneficial or not needed. I, for instance, spent a week wholly involved at a christian youth camp, I have a large list of projects to work on around my church, I am involved as an adult leader in a local Boy Scout Troop, and working on friends computers, not to mention the work I need to accomplish towards partnership development and things needing attention around my house. On top of that are "recreational" activities we participate in as a family but tend to be just as stressful as our "work."

Don't get me wrong, I love all the things I am involved in... but am I always putting God's work first? I wonder sometimes.

We grew up hearing "Idleness is the Devil's playground," and it is true, but only to an extent. Do we keep busy JUST so we don't succumb to temptation? God tells us different in His Word.

When was the last time you obeyed the first part of Psalms 46:10 "Be STILL and know that I am God?" I have to admit, that I know I do not make the time often enough myself. This is what I bring to you today. Pray that I don't get SO busy in the process of doing the work that I lose focus of WHY we have been drawn to this.