Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
Our 3rd son Andrew was part of a mission intern program in Colorado Springs from August 1999 – June 2001. The program included an extensive amount of physical training along with the spiritual. During his first year we got to watch the interns (both guys and girls) working out on the “Ropes Course” that was similar to the one used by the USAFA Cadets.
One event called the Pamper Pole really amazed me. It was a telephone pole about 30 feet high that the interns would climb – wearing a harness and blindfolded. Once an intern got to the top of the pole, s/he had to somehow get himself up on it so s/he was standing on the flat top of the pole that was about 15” in diameter. Being blindfolded meant they had to trust the leader who was directing them. He would tell the intern to turn so that s/he was facing a trapeze bar that was suspended out away from the pole. Then the intern had to leap out from the pole and grab the trapeze bar that s/he couldn’t see.
We saw some interns fall off the pole; while others, who made it to the top, we saw leap out and miss. All of these interns were swinging, high off the ground, in their protective harness. Then there were those who caught the bar, did pull-ups, and were then lowered to the ground by means of the harness.
The interns were doing something that was frightening and difficult. They knew if they made a mistake, the worst that could happen was a little embarrassment and they would be swinging in the air before being lowered to the ground so they could try again. Sounds a lot like life, doesn’t it.
The security and safety provided by the harness form a wonderful illustration of how our faith in the Lord is intended to do the very same thing. Faith in Him protects us and enables us to perform adventures that we otherwise wouldn’t do. We need to recognize that our faith is every bit as real and protective as the harness the interns wore. We might fall or stumble. We might miss the bar, but faith enables us to overcome fear and pursue the adventures the Lord calls us to.
