Jack was hiking in an area with canyons. As he hiked along, he came to the edge of a cliff and attempted to look over to the canyon below. He stumbled and fell over the cliff, plummeting toward the canyon floor 200 feet below. As he fell screaming, to an almost certain death, he reached and grabbed a small shrub growing out of the cliff’s surface, which somehow held him. He looked down and saw the rocky canyon below at least 100 feet. There was no way to climb to the top and he knew he could not hang on to the little shrub forever.
So he began yelling for help, hoping someone would hear, lower a rope, send a helicopter-anything. “HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there?” He yelled for what seemed like hours, but no one responded. He was about to give up when he heard a voice.
“Jack-can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can hear you. I am down here hanging. I can’t hold on much longer. Help!”
It’s okay Jack. “I can see you. Are you all right?”
“Yes-well I am tired and scared-but who are you and where are you?”
“It is the Lord, Jack. I am here with you and everywhere at the same time.”
“God, please help me! I don’t want to fall. I am too young to die. I promise if you get me down from here, I’ll be good, I’ll go to church and quit cussing and drinking.”
“Easy on the promises Jack. Let’s just get you from there, and then we can talk. Now listen carefully and do exactly as I say. Will you do exactly what I say?”
“Yes, yes I will God. Just get me down from here.”
“All right then. Here is what you have to do. Let go of the branch.”
“I am sorry God. What did you say? I thought I heard you say to let go of the branch.”
“I did say let go of the branch. Just trust me. I know it looks lost, sounds strange, but I know what I am doing. Trust me.”
There was a long silence, and then Jack said, “HELP! HELP! IS THERE ANYBODY ELSE UP THERE?”
Ever felt like Jack? In desperate need of help, wanting to find a way to safety, willing to trust, open to knowing God’s will for your life, but when you sense His leading, you find it difficult It sounds too scary, too foreign to a normal way of thinking. A large part of the “Walk with God” is simply trusting and being obedient-even when the odds seem overwhelming and the task seems insurmountable. Sometimes the future only becomes clear when you move forward one movement at a time. Sometimes you have to “Let go and let God.”
