The Balance Beam

I like this video. I think it is an interesting way to look at our lives and the way we respond to the opportunity that God has laid before us. I'm struggling with how it applies in the day to day. What does it look like to respond to God openly and fully, exploring and embracing each opportunity granted to us. What does it mean to take those leaps of faith or to do something seemingly crazy all for the love of God. On the other end what does it look like for God to redirect us in our pursuits and in our passions. When is He reaching out and taking our hand and saying just rest awhile on that balance beam or you might hurt yourself. When is he screaming at us to sit down and take a water break, but we're just not listening. How do we know when we are being just plain foolish and pressing on solely towards our own desires.

I believe God wants us to take risks, to love Him and follow Him no matter how irrational or radical it may seem. I believe that He will ask us to be uncomfortable, that only in those places of discomfort and fear do we learn to rest in Him and to trust fully in Him. It is in those places that we are able to allow Him into our lives to transform us more fully.

I like the analogy of the balance beam. I think it reminds us that God desires for us to rely on Him on that shaky ground. That He still wants us to continue on our crazy routine of life, to make risky jumps and spins and to be confident in Him that we can do it. However, I do not believe that God desires for us to jump off a cliff.... or go into debt, or foolishly disregard our family's safety...... or any of those types of things. So how do you know when you're just doing crazy flips on the balance beam or when you've somehow made your way to the edge of a cliff and you're standing there about to jump, because it feels somehow like that's the place where God has brought you. Maybe we took a wrong turn somewhere and this isn't where we are supposed to be, but maybe it is. The scary thing is you can't see the ground and how do you know if it's a cliff, or just the balance beam? And how do we know if it's safe to jump?