I sat at the bottom of a deep hole in a cave as my friend shrieked in fear and clung tightly to a rope overhead trying hard not to slip.
My voice echoed up: “I don’t mean make this a Jesus metaphor right now, but I can see the whole way down here and you can’t. I’m looking at the big picture. Trust me when I tell you that you’re going to be okay – just take the next step. I know you’re scared, but I can see there’s a ledge beneath you if you will just move your foot back one step.”
She wasn’t moving.
To my surprise, I wasn’t irritated. Generally, I would be. I would be the one with not an ounce of empathy or patience for this sort of thing, ready to rip my hair out because the person wouldn’t just come on when I was telling them I could see the whole rest of the way down and that I had already done it myself. I’ve been praying for Jesus to show me His love for my teammates and others though, so I guess it’s working because I didn’t feel that way at all.
Actually, my heart overflowed with love and patience. I saw her where she was at and understood her feelings. I was seeing her through a lens of Jesus. I wasn’t frustrated. In fact, I just wanted her to trust and push through and finish the climb.
I began to understand more about how Jesus feels about us. There we are – clinging tightly to a rope for dear life, trying to stand on a part where it’s most difficult, too scared to trust the fact that Jesus has a better foundation for us if we will just listen to His voice and take the next step. He genuinely gets it. He knows what it’s like to be a human – our Savior lived it. His heart spills over with compassion for us. He doesn’t get impatient and roll His eyes. He doesn’t try to yell commands at us until we do what He asks. He just looks at us with perfect love and gently prompts us to trust and obey (for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, am I right?).
I looked up at my friend, and I saw her fighting. I wanted so badly for her to not struggle, but I knew it was her choice. She had to trust what we were telling her for the struggle to end.
We often fight so brutally that we make it even harder on ourselves. If we just trust Jesus, He’s going to guide us. The struggle ends where complete trust begins. There’s no way I would have told my friend to step somewhere that I knew would make her fall. We act like that’s what Jesus is trying to do sometimes, though. Spoiler alert: He’s not! He can see the big picture people!! Romans 8:28 assures us that He is working all things for the good of those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.
My cat-like Bible Drill reflexes came out, and I recited to my friend: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.” (Psalm 56:3) This verse reminds us that it’s normal to be afraid sometimes. Obviously God expected us to be because it’s in Scripture! It’s in those times though that He wants our trust. He wants us to learn to trust that Romans 8:28 is His promise to us that holds true even when it seems like it doesn’t and we are scared.
As I talked to my friend overhead, my other friend proceeded to make the ordeal even more of a Jesus metaphor by proceeding to climb back up (while reciting Psalm 23 might I add) to calm my friend and guide her down once she saw that she wasn’t moving where we were telling her and had gotten herself into a predicament.
Again, sometimes us. When we aren’t choosing to trust Jesus, we end up in a predicament. But God: in His abundant grace and mercy, overflowing with perfect love climbs up to guide us and calm us and get us back to where we need to be (sometimes that quite literally means taking our foot into His hand and placing it where it needs to be as friend B had to do with friend A).
So, moral of the story: just trust Jesus. He can see it all. He’s not going to mislead you. You’ll survive (friend A did survive praise The Lord) and look back on what you went through with gratitude and laughter (lots of laughter). You’ll make through and even come out of your “cave” with stronger faith and trust.
Also PS: I am now in Costa Rica! This is a blog from Malaysia, but I am just now getting a chance to post it due to travel days and lack of WiFi here in Costa Rica. My team and I are about to head into a village for 10 days on Tuesday (I am now in CT again praise The Lord!!!), so I will more than likely not have WiFi at all until we get back. I can’t wait to write about all the cool things I know God is going to do during our time in a village in the Puntarenas province! Please be praying with us!
Adiós hasta entonces!
Love in Christ,
Maeci
Here’s a fun picture of us post-cave. 🙂
