Walking the Ledge
“He makes my feet like hinds’ feet [able to stand firmly and tread safely on paths of testing and trouble];
He sets me [securely] upon my high places.
You enlarge the path beneath me and make my steps secure,
So that my feet will not slip.”
Do you ever feel like you are walking along a narrow ledge - a mountain on one side and a 3,000 foot drop on the other?
Life is full of ledges. There are more than a couple times I've felt like I was walking on a ledge that seemed to get narrower with each day of pain in my body. And there have been times where I was desperately flailing my arms in attempts to not plunge off the mountain. Then, of course, there have been times when I felt I had no energy left - my feet were too tired to balance, my fingers had no grip, and my mind seemed to be one gust of wind away from giving in.
Ledges are scary, intimidating, and often confusing. When we're on a ledge, its length seems infinite. Where is it leading to? Does it have an end? And how exactly did we wind up here? It's surreal. Sometimes it feels like a nightmare.
Most of the time, the only thing keeping us from falling is hope, regardless of how minimal the amount of hope may be. Our fingers are grasping onto "the little things." Our feet are merely dragging along, steadied on past victories and experiences that we somehow made it through. Our minds cling to better outcomes and the possibility of being stronger and wiser once we make it through.
And then one day we realize we have (somehow) arrived on solid ground. We thought we were at our end, physically, mentally, and/or spiritually. We didn't think we would make it through this flare. We didn't know if depression or anxiety would be permanent fixtures in our lives. But there we are, no longer on the cliff, realizing that we actually do have some peace, perseverance, and joy.
When we're off of the cliff, we can clearly see that it was not our own strength that brought us to safety. We would've fallen immediately if we relied solely on our own power. We can look back on the struggle through the lens of victory. But through that lens, we can also see how we wavered in our faith, lost confidence in God, and failed to apply the Scripture to our situations. It can make us feel ashamed, unworthy, and (hopefully) humbled to see that perhaps our faith wasn't quite where we thought it was. It becomes apparent that quoting Bible verses and slinging spiritual clichés means nothing if they aren't exercised in our most difficult situations.
Yet, in all of the mistakes we made when we were up on that ledge, no matter how much our faith wavered, God deemed us worthy of His sustainment. How much must He love us to still rescue us in our panic and unbelief? And how astonishing must His mercy be for Him to not allow us to fall off the edge? How mindful is He?
Time and time again, God gives us another chance. Cliff after cliff, ledge after ledge, He proves His sovereignty. Sometimes He allows us to stay there a little longer to test our reliance on Him, but He doesn’t just leave us there. And after all the rescuing He has done for us, why should we doubt Him as our protector? He deserves our trust. We honor Him more with our praise and faith on the ledge than we do on solid ground. Every subsequent cliff we face should be a display of our spiritual growth and deepening relationship with Him. We should be able to see worry become increasingly replaced with faith and fear progressively dwindled.
If you’re standing flat-footed on solid ground, now is the time to absorb any lessons learned from the last cliff. How you reacted on the last ledge should not be how you react on the next one. This is the time to strengthen your relationship with God, seek wisdom, and embed the Scripture in your heart.
But, if you’re on a cliff now, remember Who your safety lies in. Even if you’re standing on a new ledge, He is still the same God. If you’re trying desperately to hold on, grasp ahold of Him. You won’t fall or jump off. Stay focused on Him, and let His strength keep you. Remember all the other times He’s rescued you?
“This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
Therefore I hope in Him!”
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.”