My heart jumped as the little boy stood on a lightweight flimsy table.
“Jump!” said his daddy. “I will catch you. I promise.”
The mother in me wanted to yell, “No! Don’t do that on this concrete floor! He will bust his head open!”
But since they were complete strangers I thought it best to keep my mouth shut. Surely the daddy will catch him, right?
Stomp, stomp, stomp went his little feet as he worked his way to the edge of the table then….
Leaping into the air, a silence hung as a tried to watch without showing the disapproving emotion on my face that my heart was feeling.
“Yay! You did it!” exclaimed daddy with laughter and hugs.
Whew! Now I can breathe again.
As the landing ended in celebration, it seemed so silly for me to doubt that daddy’s love for his child. Once I saw that little guy wrapped in his arms with love and tenderness all my mothering worries disappeared.
Sometimes our Heavenly Father sets us on uncertain ground, and our footing wobbles back and forth. In that moment, our first reaction is to doubt. Will He really catch me before I fall? Does He know what’s best for me? This doesn’t look very safe! Trusting Him to catch us after we leap feels like the biggest trust exercise!
The thing I can’t get over is the excitement in which that little boy ran, right into the arms of his daddy. The one he trusts, the one who has always caught him, it must have been a game that had played a thousand times. He knew his daddy would catch him, so he just ran. He soared in the air with delight and joy, and when he landed in his daddy’s lap, they rejoiced!
Could we dare to fly into the arms of our Father? Could we be so bold as to run to the uncertainty and enjoy the ride, so when we land, we can rejoice and celebrate with our Daddy? Could we run because we know He will catch us like we have done a thousand times? Could we be so brave?
My prayer today is that we learn to soar. We trust the One who has always caught us. Not only do we take that leap of faith, but we enjoy the ride along the way, and then we celebrate when we land in the loving arms of our Father!
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isa. 40:31).