This is Crazy! This is Awesome!

I enjoy reading Bible stories that start out "This is crazy" but end up "This is awesome". For example, a little shepherd boy with a mere sling and stones, going up against a giant Philistine -- wearing the toughest, rock-solid armor ever must have been a "This is crazy" moment, but we know how it ended. The headlines in the morning news: "Notorious Philistine Taken Down by a Shepherd Boy" -- "This is Awesome!"

What about Moses leading millions out of Egypt and facing the Red Sea, along with Pharoah's army in hot pursuit. "This is crazy". If we could have read Moses' thoughts, I wonder if they had been "This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy!" The headlines on that day must have read: "Millions walk through the Red Sea unharmed. Pharoah's entire military loses lives in the waters of the Red Sea." "This is awesome!" I remember hearing about an agnostic who said: "The only reason the Israelites were able to cross that sea was because that time of year the waters were only one foot deep." And the reply by a believer was "WOW! That's awesome then, Pharoah's army drowned in only one foot of water!" LOL!

Have you had some "This is crazy" moments that turned into "This is awesome" moments? I did. When my husband convinced me to take flying lessons and the day my instructor got out of the airplane and said, "You're ready. Go on and do three take-offs and landings.....alone!" In flying, a pilot’s First Solo is a huge milestone. After hours of training and ground study, you finally take to the air on your own. I thought "WHAT? This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy!!" But as I was all alone in the sky, I actually felt quite comfortable -- I started thinking "This is awesome, this is awesome, this is awesome."

I went on to succeed at my first solo flight. And I had the ripped shirt to prove it. In-line with tradition, my instructor cut up the back of my shirt. Before modern electronics, in-cockpit communication was mainly through shirt tugging and hollers from the instructor that sat behind you. Cutting off the back of the shirt symbolizes this very important step -- as the instructor won't need to be yanking on it any more. At the end of that thrill-ride, I shouted "THAT WAS AWESOME." On the other hand, my husband was mush. He said that he couldn't believe it when he saw my instructor get out of the plane and his wife take to the skies.....ALONE! He admitted he had never been so nervous in all his life! For me, it was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.

So it was a no brainer for me to be strapped into the safety harness when we were in Mexico a couple of weeks ago, and go parasailing. The same for jet skiing. I've learned that if we aren't willing to put ourselves in some "This is crazy" situations, we'll never experience "This is awesome" moments. If we aren't willing to run a marathon or parasail or ride a camel (I did in Israel) or give a speech before a large audience or start a business or ride a roller coaster, we'll never fly above circumstances of life that tend to keep us grounded in fear. By the way -- all those crazy things we may do sure makes for above-average prayer life. We can't NOT pray when we are flying solo in an airplane. And the same is true when we take a leap of faith in anything we hope to accomplish!

At some point in our lives, there comes a time when we have to make a decision. We need to decide to go for it (take a leap of faith) or to be complacent. I want to live with child-like faith in my all powerful Father. I wanna' live like that!

We Will, We Will Rock You

Have you ever felt like your circumstances were looming over you like a huge GIANT who was fierce, beyond your capability, bigger than life, and he was throwing every negative word of doubt and unbelief, imaginable, your way -- taunting, harassing, smack talking -- and, your faith was challenged like crazy?

If that sounds like some things you're going through right now, then the story of David and Goliath, is worth thinking about. David faced the giant, Goliath, who was taunting, harassing....and even smack-talking young David and the armies of Israel. I Samuel 17:37 & 46 describes young David's attitude toward the giant "Who is this Philistine that he should defy the Lord my God?" "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down...." David didn't allow Goliath's size, or words, get in the way of what he knew his God could do through him. He took on Goliath with just his sling and a stone and the giant was destroyed. The giant, and everyone else, was saying “He’s too big to hit”, but David was saying “He's too big to miss!"

That story, and David's words, speaks loud and clear to me: "What is this giant that could defy the words of my God?" I shake off those words of defeat and loss and replace them once again with the words of the maker of heaven and earth and the maker and healer of our bodies and our circumstances -- God's Word that says in Luke 1:37 "For nothing shall be impossible with God."

Now, let's get fired up and with God’s words of faith as our sling & with Jesus as our Rock, we face our giants TODAY, and say.....“Move out of our way or .....WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!"