I knew creating this blog in May 2012 was a good idea. I knew insight would strike. I just knew it. So here it is to make its debut, my first blog post!! (insert roaring crowd here)
I was laying awake with my mind full of thought, which unfortunately is not uncommon for me at all. At least 5 nights out of the week I have to tell my brain to shut off and go to bed. Typical college lifestyle I guess. But tonight was a little different, unlike most nights where my brain is filled with what the next day holds, or what detail I need to accomplish for my upcoming wedding, tonight I was thinking about other people. Who knew I could be so caring? I was thinking about a certain situation where someone important to me is questioning their faith in Jesus, wondering if He'll come though or if they should just give up and they are simply frustrated with life as they know it. We've all been there, down in the dumps, not sure of who we are, not sure of the next step to take, not sure if the next step should be off a bridge without bungee cords. Undoubtedly and unfortunately, we all have these moments. But WHY?
That's the question I asked myself tonight. Why do I occasionally doubt God? Why me? A Bible reading, journaling, church going, bible school attending Christian doubt God? Why does my friend doubt? Why do you doubt?
Then I remembered a cool story. The story is about a man named Charles Blondin.
Blondin's greatest fame came in June of 1859 when he became the first tightrope walker to ever walk the quarter mile across Niagara Falls.
He walked 160 feet above the falls several times, each time with a different daring attempt- once in a sack, on a bicycle, in the dark, and once he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet!
One particular time, a large crowd gathered along both sides of the river and people began buzzing about him ''Oohh-ing'' and ''Aahhh-ing'' about Blondin's latest stunt, this time he carefully made his tightrope walk blindfolded, pushing a wheelbarrow.
After reaching the other side the crowd's applause was louder than the roar of the falls! They were amazed! How could someone do such a thing?!
Then, Blondin stopped to address his audience, ''Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?''
The crowd enthusiastically shouted, ''Yes yes yes!! You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. You can do anything!''
''Okay'', said Blondin, ''Then someone get in the wheelbarrow....''
As you can guess, no one wanted to get in the wheelbarrow. They would have to be crazy right? I mean seriously, I don't care how good someone is, who cares if they made breakfast while walking on one small rope 160 feet above deadly water. Shoot, no way i'd get in there! I don't have enough faith in anyone to risk my life like that.
Do you get it? Incase you aren't picking up on my sarcasm, I'm trying to make a point here. I'll give you a break since it's my first blog post.
My response, and the response of the crowd reminds me of my friend I was thinking about tonight and of so many others, myself included.
Too many of us live in a constant hypocritical state that we can't seem to shake. Yes, we know God can do great things, we hear about the awesome things God can do in church every Sunday. He turned water into wine, he fed 5,000 with a few fish and some bread- we know these stories. We say, God did, instead of saying, God DOES.
We stand on the side of the river with our giant foam fingers and we cheer about how great our God is and we get excited when someone tells us about how He's done something in their life but when someone asks us to take a step of faith, we don't react.
What would happen if you got in that wheelbarrow with Blondin? I can say you would most likely be just fine. I mean the man made an omelet while walking 160 ft in the air for goodness sake! But honestly, what would happen if we took more steps of faith? What would happen if we could trade in our ''doubt'' card with a ''faith in who God is'' card?
This year I want to shed my ideas about who God is, or who I thought He was. I want a new perspective. I want to believe with all my heart that God WILL do something big in my life. I'm trading in ''did for does''.
So what do you say? Will you get in the wheelbarrow?
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.
-Matthew 21:21
oh Hayley.. you were making me so excited as I read this. The crazy thing is, I've heard two messages over the past two days that were talking a lot about doubt, disbelief, stepping out in this new year, etc. What you said is so true. I think a lot of times it's easier (we think) to doubt God and do things our own way. But in reality, trusting God and living in complete dependance on Him is actually so easy if we just learn to surrender and trust Him. We just need to step out, and lean the character of God. He will protect us from every side. In Isaiah 38:16b-17, Hezekiah was thanking the Lord for saving him from death and he said, "You restored me to health and let me live. Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back."
ReplyDeleteI also think sometimes God steps back and allows us to feel as if he isn't present so that we can FIND him. So that we search him out. So that we aren't just satisfied with living within our status quo. Oswald Chamber's also said, "The great thing about faith in God is that it keeps a man undisturbed in the midst disturbance." SO true.
So sorry for the "book" up there. The Lord has just been speaking to me soo much lately about all of this and it got me all fired up!
P.S. keep blogging!!!!! ;)
I love what you said about how God will occasionally step back and lets us feel pain. Man, that just sounds mean doesn't it? I feel like this is where most christians give up and turn away from their faith. I've seen it happen too many times. This is where God gets a bad rep and seems like an unfair, mean God..which we know is far from the truth. I remember going though my own struggles and staying as close to Jesus as possible even though he felt miles away and the reward in the end was so sweet. I felt stronger in my faith! Understanding the ways of God is something i'm sure i'll never figure out but God has been faithful in my lowest points, every time! No way i'm turning my back!
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