High Ropes
I recently had the chance to do a high ropes course with a group of students from my university. Basically, we were all strapped in to harnesses and there was rock wall climbing and then a series of challenges that involved crossing suspended platforms and walking on ropes while hanging a good distance above the ground.
I agreed to be on the belay team for the first part--which meant that while people were climbing the rock wall, I was helping hold the rope down on the ground so we could all lower the climber and make sure they were safe. I didn't realize that being on the belay team put me right in line to be next to climb the terrifying rock wall. But when my time came, I handed over my place on the belay team and climbed. I'm honestly just trying not to picture what my backside looked like as I awkwardly scaled the wall.
It was really rewarding to climb the wall, and though I was shaking with adrenaline when I returned to solid ground, I was glad I did it. And guess what? Because I was one of the first to climb, I got to be one of the first to go up up up the stairs to do the challenge course with the suspended platforms that I mentioned earlier.
As my friends and I trudged up the stairs, I said, "Dang, we just said yes to one thing and now we are all the way up here!"
Terrified out of our minds of the height and the prospect of completing the course, we all just kind of stood there and said how we wanted to go back down. When we started the day, we hadn't said yes to being at the top of the challenge course. We had said yes to being on the belay team. And now we were about to push the edges of our comfort zone even further.
We all completed the challenges, even though we all did that thing where we looked out to where we'd have to step and yelled "oh crap!!" And I honestly can say that making myself do that made me feel empowered.
But I didn't immediately agree to doing the challenge course. I didn't jump headfirst into pushing myself to my limit. I know this whole challenge course thing sounds trivial, but I promise you if you experienced it you would know how difficult it is, regardless of all the safeguards. But I didn't just jump in. I said yes to one thing: being on the belay team. And then yes to climbing the wall, but only when my chance came to answer.
And maybe some things in life ask you to make great leaps of faith and pray for the best, but most of the time, you are faced with small everyday decisions that ask you to give a little of yourself at a time. You say yes, your journey moves forward, and day after day you are asked the question, "will you?" and you have to decide. One answer at a time.
Those tiny steps require faith and trust. They require faith in God and trust in your prayer life. God is working in your life. He needs you somewhere. And while it's easy to worry about HUGE things in your life that you may someday be asked to do or need to decide on, God is walking you through this thing one "yes" at a time.
It's important to let life happen. One step, one yes, one moment in prayer trusting God, all of these one time things are what lead you to a summit. I don't know about you, but I spend way too much time looking at where I will be one thousand decisions from now. It is reassuring to know that NOW matters. My attitude, my faith, my ability to take each opportunity for its immediate worth, will all get me where I am meant to be.
We're all searching for peace in some form. I think this is where we can find some.
I agreed to be on the belay team for the first part--which meant that while people were climbing the rock wall, I was helping hold the rope down on the ground so we could all lower the climber and make sure they were safe. I didn't realize that being on the belay team put me right in line to be next to climb the terrifying rock wall. But when my time came, I handed over my place on the belay team and climbed. I'm honestly just trying not to picture what my backside looked like as I awkwardly scaled the wall.
It was really rewarding to climb the wall, and though I was shaking with adrenaline when I returned to solid ground, I was glad I did it. And guess what? Because I was one of the first to climb, I got to be one of the first to go up up up the stairs to do the challenge course with the suspended platforms that I mentioned earlier.
As my friends and I trudged up the stairs, I said, "Dang, we just said yes to one thing and now we are all the way up here!"
Terrified out of our minds of the height and the prospect of completing the course, we all just kind of stood there and said how we wanted to go back down. When we started the day, we hadn't said yes to being at the top of the challenge course. We had said yes to being on the belay team. And now we were about to push the edges of our comfort zone even further.
We all completed the challenges, even though we all did that thing where we looked out to where we'd have to step and yelled "oh crap!!" And I honestly can say that making myself do that made me feel empowered.
But I didn't immediately agree to doing the challenge course. I didn't jump headfirst into pushing myself to my limit. I know this whole challenge course thing sounds trivial, but I promise you if you experienced it you would know how difficult it is, regardless of all the safeguards. But I didn't just jump in. I said yes to one thing: being on the belay team. And then yes to climbing the wall, but only when my chance came to answer.
And maybe some things in life ask you to make great leaps of faith and pray for the best, but most of the time, you are faced with small everyday decisions that ask you to give a little of yourself at a time. You say yes, your journey moves forward, and day after day you are asked the question, "will you?" and you have to decide. One answer at a time.
Those tiny steps require faith and trust. They require faith in God and trust in your prayer life. God is working in your life. He needs you somewhere. And while it's easy to worry about HUGE things in your life that you may someday be asked to do or need to decide on, God is walking you through this thing one "yes" at a time.
It's important to let life happen. One step, one yes, one moment in prayer trusting God, all of these one time things are what lead you to a summit. I don't know about you, but I spend way too much time looking at where I will be one thousand decisions from now. It is reassuring to know that NOW matters. My attitude, my faith, my ability to take each opportunity for its immediate worth, will all get me where I am meant to be.
We're all searching for peace in some form. I think this is where we can find some.
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