As I sat looking through the window of a restaurant last night I saw out of the corner of my eye a young lady come crashing to the ground. It appeared as though when she reached the last step she was climbing her foot got caught somehow causing her to trip and fall. She was in obvious pain. I could see that there were tears already flowing, as she raised her head up and cried out to her friend, who had walked on, oblivious to what had occurred behind her. My immediate thought was to leave the restaurant and go help her, but before I could leave my seat bystanders, friends and family had come to her rescue. Her left ankle was wrapped in a protective dressing indicating she had already suffered an injury to the same foot that was hurting her now. With the tears wiped away by a caring hand, helped to her feet with a gentle tug, and placed in a comfortable seat until the first- aid responders arrived – she once again had regained her balance. Still in pain, but balanced never the less.
There is something about a fallen person that makes me want to immediately help them. For whatever reason, I can’t remember ever laughing (as I’ve witnessed some awkwardly do) when I see someone take a fall. Maybe it’s because I unfortunately know all too well the embarrassment, and pain involved with falling. There have been times throughout my life that I have lost my balance and have come crashing down physically, emotionally and spiritually. I remember many years ago sitting in the floor in the corner of my bedroom crying for two full days when I was going through a divorce with my wife, and mother of my daughter, Emily. Two full days is not an exaggeration! I couldn’t make it to work, I couldn’t get up to answer the phone, I couldn’t stand, or lay down, I couldn’t stop crying, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t find my balance.
Then the third day arrived, yet there wasn’t a sense that joy comes in the morn, but there was a resolve to move forward. To pick myself up, to take a shower, to put on some clean clothes, to get the eye drops out of the medicine cabinet, and begin to find my balance again.
It’s tough sometimes, regardless of how many well-intended self-help books you read, or how much sound advice you receive from those that truly care about you – it’s just tough. I had fallen hard and deep into an emotional, physical, and spiritually draining pit – but then I finally regained my balance. I didn’t recognize it at the time, because of the sin of adultery I had committed but it was God who picked me up out of the floor. He was the only one that was willing to, and was able to fully forgive me when I asked for forgiveness during those two days. He was there waiting with His loving arms, willing to let me stay fallen, and to cry my eyes out as long as I needed to, then He took my hand and said, “you’ll learn from this, now let’s move on”.
Sometimes what gets hurt the most during a fall is one’s pride, and self-dignity, which is a very good thing I suspect. Even before the girl felt the harshness of the concrete floor last night I saw her looking around to see who was watching. Just before the tears and the outcry I somehow found myself bearing witness to the instant that the feeling of embarrassment streaked across her mind, and I felt sympathy for her just as instantaneously. Losing one’s balance – this I can relate to.
“Everything in moderation” - “Live a balanced life” - “Work hard – play hard” these are all things that we’ve heard over and over. “Being religious is a good thing when it’s done in moderation and in balance with a life that is seen as normal by today’s world” has been the false doctrine of Satan as well as some protestant denominations over the years. I’ve come to conclude that any level of “religiosity” in our lives is a problem.
When we become more religious than righteous we are out of balance.
When we become consumed by the standards of others, than by the characteristics described by Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount then we have lost our equilibrium in His Kingdom.
I know this sounds “preachy” but falling brings forth a cry for help to the only One that can truly make a difference. Let me ask you, do you find yourself fallen today? As you’re reading this are you feeling a sting deep in your soul from the embarrassment and pain of having fallen in your walk with Him? Do you feel ashamed that others, (those who you want to accept you, and see you as just as successful as they are) have seen you slip, and stumble? Maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to do just as I did and see His hand stretched out to gently pull you up from that sopping wet spot on the piece of carpet that you’ve resided in for two days, and hear His voice say “you’ll learn from this, now lets move on”.
There was a fellow walking home one night and he fell into a deep dark hole. He couldn’t climb out because the walls were both steep and smooth. He was trapped. Soon a priest walked by, and the fellow (Joe) cried out for help. The priest stopped, looked over the circumstance and then wrote out a prayer for perseverance for Joe and dropped it down to him before moving on.
A little bit later a doctor walked down the same street and heard Joe’s cry for help. He stopped and quickly analyzed the situation, then wrote a prescription for anxiety medication and dropped it into the hole to Joe as he continued on his way.
Then, just as Joe began to lose all hope for rescue a friend walks by and hears Joe’s desperate, yet feeble cries for help. The friend looks at Joe down in the hole and asks, “What are you doing down there in that hole, Joe?” “I’ve fallen, and can’t get myself out of here” came Joe’s reply. Then the friend does the unthinkable, he jumps in the hole and lands on top of his friend.
Both stunned and confused, Joe rises to his feet in disbelief and screams out “why in the world did you do that, now we’re both stuck!” The friend looks at Joe, and with a slight grin on his lips he says, “yeah, but I’ve been down here before – and I know the way out.”
Maybe you know a friend that has fallen into a hole that they can’t seem to get out of, yet you’ve got the answer for them that only comes from experiencing a similar fall.
Why don’t you stop what you’re doing right now – pick up the phone, or simply return to your email screen (jump in the hole with them) and let them hear you say, “I’ve been down here before – and I know the way out.”
What a day of recovery, a day of rejoicing, a day of deliverance this would be - if we all would only reach out to help just one person regain their balance today. And it’s only through this process that I’ve discovered this is how we can “count it all joy”, as James 1:2 says... Doug
There is something about a fallen person that makes me want to immediately help them. For whatever reason, I can’t remember ever laughing (as I’ve witnessed some awkwardly do) when I see someone take a fall. Maybe it’s because I unfortunately know all too well the embarrassment, and pain involved with falling. There have been times throughout my life that I have lost my balance and have come crashing down physically, emotionally and spiritually. I remember many years ago sitting in the floor in the corner of my bedroom crying for two full days when I was going through a divorce with my wife, and mother of my daughter, Emily. Two full days is not an exaggeration! I couldn’t make it to work, I couldn’t get up to answer the phone, I couldn’t stand, or lay down, I couldn’t stop crying, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t find my balance.
Then the third day arrived, yet there wasn’t a sense that joy comes in the morn, but there was a resolve to move forward. To pick myself up, to take a shower, to put on some clean clothes, to get the eye drops out of the medicine cabinet, and begin to find my balance again.
It’s tough sometimes, regardless of how many well-intended self-help books you read, or how much sound advice you receive from those that truly care about you – it’s just tough. I had fallen hard and deep into an emotional, physical, and spiritually draining pit – but then I finally regained my balance. I didn’t recognize it at the time, because of the sin of adultery I had committed but it was God who picked me up out of the floor. He was the only one that was willing to, and was able to fully forgive me when I asked for forgiveness during those two days. He was there waiting with His loving arms, willing to let me stay fallen, and to cry my eyes out as long as I needed to, then He took my hand and said, “you’ll learn from this, now let’s move on”.
Sometimes what gets hurt the most during a fall is one’s pride, and self-dignity, which is a very good thing I suspect. Even before the girl felt the harshness of the concrete floor last night I saw her looking around to see who was watching. Just before the tears and the outcry I somehow found myself bearing witness to the instant that the feeling of embarrassment streaked across her mind, and I felt sympathy for her just as instantaneously. Losing one’s balance – this I can relate to.
“Everything in moderation” - “Live a balanced life” - “Work hard – play hard” these are all things that we’ve heard over and over. “Being religious is a good thing when it’s done in moderation and in balance with a life that is seen as normal by today’s world” has been the false doctrine of Satan as well as some protestant denominations over the years. I’ve come to conclude that any level of “religiosity” in our lives is a problem.
When we become more religious than righteous we are out of balance.
When we become consumed by the standards of others, than by the characteristics described by Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount then we have lost our equilibrium in His Kingdom.
I know this sounds “preachy” but falling brings forth a cry for help to the only One that can truly make a difference. Let me ask you, do you find yourself fallen today? As you’re reading this are you feeling a sting deep in your soul from the embarrassment and pain of having fallen in your walk with Him? Do you feel ashamed that others, (those who you want to accept you, and see you as just as successful as they are) have seen you slip, and stumble? Maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to do just as I did and see His hand stretched out to gently pull you up from that sopping wet spot on the piece of carpet that you’ve resided in for two days, and hear His voice say “you’ll learn from this, now lets move on”.
There was a fellow walking home one night and he fell into a deep dark hole. He couldn’t climb out because the walls were both steep and smooth. He was trapped. Soon a priest walked by, and the fellow (Joe) cried out for help. The priest stopped, looked over the circumstance and then wrote out a prayer for perseverance for Joe and dropped it down to him before moving on.
A little bit later a doctor walked down the same street and heard Joe’s cry for help. He stopped and quickly analyzed the situation, then wrote a prescription for anxiety medication and dropped it into the hole to Joe as he continued on his way.
Then, just as Joe began to lose all hope for rescue a friend walks by and hears Joe’s desperate, yet feeble cries for help. The friend looks at Joe down in the hole and asks, “What are you doing down there in that hole, Joe?” “I’ve fallen, and can’t get myself out of here” came Joe’s reply. Then the friend does the unthinkable, he jumps in the hole and lands on top of his friend.
Both stunned and confused, Joe rises to his feet in disbelief and screams out “why in the world did you do that, now we’re both stuck!” The friend looks at Joe, and with a slight grin on his lips he says, “yeah, but I’ve been down here before – and I know the way out.”
Maybe you know a friend that has fallen into a hole that they can’t seem to get out of, yet you’ve got the answer for them that only comes from experiencing a similar fall.
Why don’t you stop what you’re doing right now – pick up the phone, or simply return to your email screen (jump in the hole with them) and let them hear you say, “I’ve been down here before – and I know the way out.”
What a day of recovery, a day of rejoicing, a day of deliverance this would be - if we all would only reach out to help just one person regain their balance today. And it’s only through this process that I’ve discovered this is how we can “count it all joy”, as James 1:2 says... Doug
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