What a beautiful view.
I stood at the top of the cliff looking in delight across a sparkling sea, waves rolling gently up the beach. The sun was shining and I’d made it!
Now, rope coiled up on my back, I was off down to join my friends when…
Crash! Crunch!
Amid a jangling of climbing gear pain shot through my back! I was looking up at fuzzy clouds: “Can’t… get… my… breath… What happened?”
Yep, I’d fallen off the cliff!
Once I’d recovered my breath slightly I realised I hurt: “Ouch! What have I done? What now?”
And it happened so fast. One moment my feet were on solid rock, next thing they slid from from beneath me and I was looking into Tom’s worried face. After checking me for damage and deciding it was OK for me to move, he thrust a flask of tea into my hand. I slowly, if rather painfully, sat up.
The shock subsided as I drank, but I didn’t yet realise how fortunate I’d been. Nothing more than a bruised spine and sprained ankle it turned out. Although the next few days were a bit painful (I couldn’t even flush the loo myself – hmm…) and it was hard to walk properly for a bit, things could have been so different.
My mind wandered back to the scene:
- There was a pile of jagged rocks only centimetres away, but I fell on soft grass
- I’d fallen awkwardly (silently cursing the rope on my back) but this prevented any real damage as it cushioned the blow
- I’d kept my helmet on despite having finished the climb, so my head was fine
Thank you Lord!
Now I didn’t immediately start praising God or anything like that. I still hurt like billy-o! And honestly, I was a miserable minnie the next few days because I couldn’t go out on my planned walk and wasn’t able to enjoy the big waterslide down a very big hill.
It was only later that the enormity of what had (or hadn’t) happened hit me. And years later that I realised how God had looked after me.
Yes, it was just one of those accidents, but why did I miss the rocks? How come I kept my helmet on (I don’t normally…) and I could have just thrown the coiled rope to the foot of the cliff before my descent. What was going on?
I believe God needed (and still needs) me as a fully functioning Susan to fulfill His purposes. So He gave me a soft landing 😊
And remembering my cliffside adventure made me think…
Often when we have difficult experiences or challenging (even horrendous) situations, we can get despondant, question God’s existence, feel despair, anger or a whole host of other emotions. But while we only see a snippet, God knows the full picture.
I looked to Him and His goodness and saw how fortunate I’d been, how He’d kept me from something worse. It’s only by fixing our eyes on Him we can begin to understand all He does for us:
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful me, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” – Heb 12:2-3 (NIV)
At the Last Supper, even though Jesus knew He was about to face the most terrible, excruciating death on the cross, He broke bread and gave thanks! As He poured out the wine and shared it with His disciples He was able to face all that was to come.
And you can face much and be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18) when you walk with Christ.
It’s the start of another year and we don’t know what it holds (I refuse to mention the C-word). But He is with us through it all (love this song by Tauren Wells). He wants good for us and He will use everything in the lives of believers for good (Rom 8:28).
I encourage you to stop right now and think. What are you grateful for? What has God done for you meaning you can’t help but cry out in praise?
Lets join together and give thanks in His precious name:
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” – Psalm 100 (NIV) 🎵
God bless xx
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