The Hardest Step

I am not going to finish my story on playing ball this week. Maybe next week.

Something made me think of hope. When that happens, I pay attention.

I was reminded of hope, true hope based on the assurance that God will do what He said He would do. In spite of myself, and my emotions of late, God reminds me that He will not let me go – He never has and He never will.

On a recent local evening news broadcast a woman-reporter was standing on the 21^st floor of the tallest building in Lansing, Michigan. Actually she was “standing” outside an open window on the 21^st floor. A camera was attached to her helmet. We were able to see what she saw. Looking up was a little bit of the building and a lot of blue sky. Looking down . . . it was a very long way down to the cement-covered earth below. Looking out may have made this assignment worth the challenge – Lansing, with the sun shining off the Capitol Building dome, and the crisscrossing sidewalks between and through large areas of green grass and flowering bushes. Everything looked beautiful and safe and clean.

Against that backdrop, the woman hung on for dear life to a rope. Suspended over the edge of the window in a canvas harness, yellow helmet, and thick gloves. What was she thinking? She told us: FEAR. I’ve heard it before when people (including myself) are at the edge, building up the courage to take the first step off the solid structure. When the rappel is done, the comment I hear most often by the brave souls willing to trust a rope for their safety is, “The first step was the hardest.”

That’s how it is with my Christian walk, in my relationship with my Higher Power, Jesus. I can choose to stay on the solid platform, relying on my own abilities, my own strength. Or I can take the first step away from the familiar. I can trust God to keep me from harm. I can look around me and see all the things God has made available to me. I can catch a glimpse of what life is really like from this new perspective, a view I cannot get when I am unwilling to take the first step and trust God.

If a human being can trust a mere rope, how much more worthy is God of my trust! I can trust God. He said He would not let me fall. God’s love reaches out to me and I cannot be harmed. I can take the first step into the unknown, knowing a trustworthy God is holding onto my lifeline.

From The Message, Psalm 94:18 says,

If God hadn't been there for me,
I never would have made it.
The minute I said, "I'm slipping, I'm falling,"
Your love, God, took hold and held me fast.

The first step may still seem like the hardest, but the reality is by trusting God we can see and feel Him taking hold and holding us fast, unharmed, confident in His love and care.