|
A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day when he accidentally
got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed
a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror
saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet. He
couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb
up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that
someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something.
"HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? HELP!"
He yelled for hours, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he
heard a voice.
"Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!"
"I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?"
"Yes, but . . . Who are you, and where are you?"
"I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere."
"The Lord? You mean, GOD?"
"That's Me."
"God, please help me! I promise if You'll get me down from here, I'll stop
sinning. I'll be a really good person. I'll serve You for
the rest of my life."
"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's just get you down from there; then we
can talk. Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully."
"I'll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do."
"Okay. Let go of the branch."
"What?"
"I said, let go of the branch. Just trust Me. Let go."
There was a long silence. Finally Jack yelled, "HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE
UP THERE?"
Have you ever felt like Jack? We say that we want to know the will of God,
but when we find out what it is, we can't handle it. It sounds too scary,
too difficult. We decide to look elsewhere. When He says, "Let go of the
things that stand between you and Me, and trust Me with your life," it sounds
pretty scary. But when we let go, we find freedom and safety in His hands."
Edited from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice.
Copyright 1994 by Youth Specialties, Inc.
|