I have never ever in my life felt any desire to go bungee jumping. It’s definitely not on my bucket list. But when my teammates started talking about going, I realized I hadn’t had any adventures in El Salvador. When would I ever have the chance for an adventure in El Salvador again? Possibly never. So I decided I would join them. Yes, I wanted something more along the lines of zip-lining or white water rafting, but this would have to do…
As we drove to the jump site, I was thinking of the parallels between bungee jumping and our walk with the Lord. You see, if I really truly believe that the bungee cord will hold me, then I should have no problem jumping off the bridge. And if I truly trust the Jesus will hold my life when He calls me to do something, then I should have no problem doing it, no matter how difficult or scary.
I felt no fear on that drive to the jump site. I felt no fear as I watched 6 people jump before me. I got a little shaky and nervous as I put on the harness and attached the cable. But everything changed as I stood on that platform, preparing to jump. My legs were shaking pretty bad, and I kept telling myself, “Don’t look down. Don’t look down.”
THIS IS CRAZY!!! Who jumps off a perfectly good bridge? I don’t want to jump. I don’t want to fall. And I absolutely 100% trust that this cable will catch me. But this is against everything in me.
“Do you want a countdown? Do you want music?” they asked.
“Just Jump!”
“Just Do It!”
And I thought to myself, “If I don’t go now, I’ll never do it.” So I looked into the horizon and off I went. Not an inspiring jump out superman-style; more like a terrifying plummet straight down. There was one second where things stood still and I felt like I was flying. And then my stomach lurched as I was falling. It was amazing and terrifying.
And that was when I realized…
I wouldn’t jump if I didn’t completely trust the cord. Trust makes it possible for me to jump, but it doesn’t make it any easier.
Sometimes we can trust Jesus 100% to hold us.
But that doesn’t necessarily make obedience any less difficult or terrifying. We may trust Him fully, but what He asks can sometimes go against everything in us, everything we think we want, everything we feel is safer.
We can know that the flight is exhilarating and He’ll fully carry us through. But still our head screams, “this is CRAZY! What am I doing?! How can I do this?!”
Obedience is hard.
But JUST JUMP!
You know it’s worth it.
