Life Among the Trees

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to accompany my church’s youth group on a youth retreat. The camp we stayed at had canoes and kayaks, a water inflatable, a rock wall, an obstacle course, and a high ropes course. In case you don’t know me or you don’t know me well, let me tell you quite plainly, while I am definitely not high-maintenance, I am a girly-girl. However, I can be adventurous, I am stubborn/determined, and I like to challenge myself. So, I decided to tackle the high ropes course.

While I stood on a thin wire, at tree-top level, I had the realization that while I wasn’t overly fond of walking on a shaking wire, the height didn’t bother me, and I wasn’t really afraid. Why? Because I knew  if I lost my balance and my feet slipped from the wire, the harness I was wearing would prevent my rapid descent to the ground.

Despite the height and the lack of stability, I was confident that I was safe because of my faith in the harness which connected me to a wire over my head. Yes, falling and having to get back onto the wire would have been a bit of an ordeal, but knowing that there was nothing to be afraid of was liberating and enabled me to complete the course with limited times of hesitation.

Our lives are similar to my time on the high ropes course. Sometimes, life doesn’t feel quite solid and sometimes it is frustratingly uncertain. Unfortunately, there are times that I let myself focus on the uncertainty, and I find myself succumbing to fear. Uncertainty is uncomfortable. Yet the reality is: I serve a God who is even more dependable and trustworthy than the harness I wore on the high ropes course. In times of uncertainty, if we remember the God who guides and sustains us, we can walk securely, by faith knowing we are safe, despite what we feel.