Cliff Jumping

I recently heard a guy tell about his cliff jumping adventures from when he was in high school.

As the story unfolded the anticipation of what would happen next continued to draw me in. He had peaked my interest in such a way that I wanted to relive the moment with him! I could feel the adrenaline starting to build as I reminisced of my own cliff jumping experience.

Here’s what’s wild; that adrenaline is generally met with fear. And that fear is oftentimes boiled down to this; the unknown.

There are many people who would say they’re afraid of snakes, spiders, heights, or dark spaces. But really, truth be told, it’s the fear of the unknown that’s associated with those moments. It’s the place where we begin to ask, “what if…” as it pertains to those fears.

Long story, short. This guy’s friends had convinced him that one of the others in the group had courageously and confidently jumped from the cliff for the very first time that day. So, it left him to wonder why he felt so scared and afraid to jump himself.

As the story took a spiritual turn this is what he said, ‘in the moment of truth, you have two options: (1) you can face your fear and jump or (2) you can turn around and march right back down the path and leave the same way you entered.”

In every encounter we have with Jesus these options exist: take a chance or remain unchanged.

Jesus is inviting us on an adventure. But there’s one caveat; we must trust Him. Trusting Jesus means relinquishing control, and that can be so difficult.

For some, re-telling old familiar stories and quoting verses may come with relative ease. But letting our lives continually tell the story really is something altogether different.

These words–comfort and control–have really been the competing masters of my heart. And it’s these ideals that have robbed so many moments of faithful obedience to the one true Master of Christ in my life.

Especially in the conservative religious culture where I live it’s easy to strive for good moral astuteness. Live with a moderately respectable moral complexion so as to give an appearance to those around me that I am religiously inclined but not radically extreme, financially generous but not fanatically socialist, sacrificially kind but not outrageously benevolent.

Following Jesus, much like the route to cliff jumping, can be an uncomfortable trek. It’s really difficult to experience the breath-taking views of that incredible bluff while simultaneously standing among the foliage of the trailhead. But getting on the trail headed toward the magnificent views of those rocky cliffs can have a tremendous payoff when we’re willing to take such a risk.

Standing there staring out over the edge of the watery terrain means we’ve made our way beyond the comforts of those standing by merely watching our next move. We peer over the edge convincing our feet to make another move forward. On the count of 3, you decide to jump! 1-2-3! You count again. And again. And again.

It’s that fear creeping up on you! Not the heights. Or the big pool of water. But the unknown. It’s the loss of control you know you’ll experience once your feet leave the ledge. But you decide to jump anyway. Why? Because, in that moment, you’re convinced that the reward outweighs the risk. That the loss of control will give way to a greater experience that you wouldn’t know otherwise.

It’s the same with following Jesus; as long as you remain steady with your feet planted firmly on the rock ledge you still feel in control. But you have no idea what you’re missing if you’ll simply take that leap. When our need for control concedes to His will to move we will experience a moment of freedom that staying still could never know.

Back to the scene of the friend’s boldness to jump so willingly from the cliffs. What the group didn’t tell the guy was that his friend had been going regularly to this spot all summer long jumping from those cliffs building courage to do it again and again. What seemed so scary at first was slowly becoming a regular occurrence bolstered by the confidence of those repeated attempts to successfully jump and experience the life-altering moment of the wind beneath his feet.

We can experience that same type of bravery in following Jesus. For every moment we choose to say yes, for every moment we move into the uncomfortable and uncontrollable scene of stepping toward His calling we build momentum to repeat the process again and again.

Has the Lord brought you to a moment of crisis? Are you staring at a situation overlooking the cliffs of life? Is he asking you to jump? To trust Him? To choose an uncomfortable moment for the savory pleasures of faith? To relinquish control for the sake of unrelenting obedience? You have two choices; take a chance or remain unchanged!