Dangling Off the Mountain

My son is hanging from his high chair. He's turned himself around, pushed himself towards the ground,. His hands are still holding onto the arm rests of the hair chair. His legs are dangling. He's a couple of inches from touching the ground. He looks up at me, fear in his eyes, and says, “Momma, Momma, help.”

It's kind of a humorous picture. His fear of something I can see so clearly is not a problem at all.  
 
Then it hits me. This is what I must look like to God so much of the time. Doing something new, trying something out, unaware there's just a couple of inches between me and solid ground, I'm scared, worried, and crying out, “God, why don't you help?”
 
I look at my son and I say, “Just let go. Trust me. Let go and you'll find the ground right beneath your feet.” (I know it's a little cheesy in this analogy, but it's what I actually said because it's what he literally needed to do.)
 
But, he wouldn't let go. So, I walked over and gave him my hand and I helped him down, thinking of all the times God has been just as gracious with me.
 
There have been so many times I have decided not to do something because it seemed too risky or scary. I avoid things that are going to make my feet dangle off the ground. As I watched my son, I thought about how many times I have missed something because I didn't want to take a risk. How many of those things would have actually been more like my feet dangling only a couple of inches off the ground, instead of the mountain I feared? Reality and perceptions can be so different.
 
God calls us to do things that seem risky to us. He's drawing us out of ourselves and into His world. He's asking us to rely on Him. Can I be honest? I so like to rely on me.
 
I'm glad not everyone choose to stay safe rather than trust God's voice when it felt like dangling off a mountain:

 • Moses went to go free the Israelites
 • Elijah sat at a dried up river bed waiting for what was next
 • Gideon (after a lack of trusting "fleece moment" that showed God's graciousness) led a tiny army against a huge one
 • Mary gave birth to Jesus
 • Joseph believed his son was God's
 • The centurion went home believing in healing
 • Jesus went to the cross
 • Peter went to the home of a Gentile
 • Paul took off for lands unknown to spread the gospel

Just to name a few of the Biblical ones.
 
We may be dangling from something now–holding on hard to what we think will keep us safe. Deep down, if we stop listening to that fear, we know. This is not a mountain we are dangling from.
 
So, stop holding on so hard. Solid ground is only inches away (at least in the view of the One who holds it all up).