Perhaps you’ve read the true story of the famous tightrope walker Charles Blondin.  In 1859, he was the first person to cross a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile across Niagara Falls.  He walked the 160 feet across the Falls numerous times, including in a sack, on stilts, and even on a bicycle.  The first time he walked across the tightrope blindfolded and pushing a wheelbarrow, his safe journey to the other side was met with thunderous applause from his audiece.  Then Blondin asked the crowd, “Do you believe I can carry a person across in the wheelbarrow?”  When the crowd shouted their affirmation, he challenged, “Okay, who will get in the wheelbarrow?”  No one did.

It is so hard to trust others, especially if that “other” is God. If only He appeared in burning bushes, then we could know for certain, right?  We read His word, study scripture, profess our belief, but the very practical aspect of letting go of our fears and just “getting in” is incredibly challenging.  We rationalize why our beliefs may not make sense, we weigh the human pros and cons, and we convince ourselves that maybe we actually know better than God because we are, after all, fully knowledgeable of the consequences of our situation or actions, as though God somehow isn’t.  Perhaps we’re concerned that God takes coffee breaks and vacations and may not be aware of the very real outcome of His design while out of His office.

I’m definitely guilty of worry, as though the very act of it will somehow keep that plane in the air, that doctor’s call from ever coming, or my financies under control.  I confess that I sweat the small stuff, even though I have been admonished by signs and book titles not to do so. 

I believe God is in the business of handling matters of life and death, but what if I choose life and He chooses the unthinkable?  There’s always that chance that a situation might not be resolved to my liking, hence the worry.  Even though, I must admit, He has always come through.  Oh, maybe not with the exact thing I had hoped and prayed for, although often times that happens too.  But even when the worst has happened, I have never been abandoned, have always been comforted by His Word, the touch of a loved one, and the promise of eternity with Him.  Come to think of it, He’s actually never let me down.  And each time I learn that lesson, I promise myself I won’t forget it.  And I don’t…until the next challenge or crisis comes along.

I take comfort in Scripture:  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life (Luke 12:25); or Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews: 11:1).  I believe it when I’m on solid ground, it’s getting in that faith wheelbarrow that’s so challenging.