Preparing for Freefall

As Moses prepared to hand the baton of leadership over to Joshua, he spoke these words to the children of Israel, he spoke these words in Deuteronomy 31:
6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them (referring to the nations on the other side of the Jordan River); for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." 7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 And the Lord, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."

God was calling his people to be bold, and Joshua, as their leader, was challenged to be especially strong and courageous.   Standing still was not an option - God had called His people to possess the land, and He had given them the tools to do so.  

This reminds us that God will call us periodically to step out and take bold action, to confront our challenges head-on rather than wait on difficulties to overtake us, and to eliminate fear that will hold us back.  Courage to complete God's mission originates with Him, and as we go forward in the Christian life, it's important that we rely on Him for the strength we need.

It was a stormy night on the sea with the disciples of Jesus, and we see in Matthew chapter 14 that Jesus came to them, walking on the water - the disciples saw this, thought it was a ghost, and cried out in fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." 28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"   Peter attempted something amazing - at the invitation of Jesus.   He did pretty well until he took his eyes off the Lord, saw the winds were strong, and started to sink.


By now, you've probably heard of the incredible feat performed yesterday by Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner, who broke the sound barrier, freefalling some 24 miles from a specially designed capsule hoisted into space from a helium balloon.   I did a little research on Wikipedia and found that his records included the highest altitude for a manned balloon flight, the highest altitude for a parachute jump, and the greatest velocity for a free fall.

By the way, it was on Oct. 14, 1947 when pilot Chuck Yaeger broke the sound barrier for the first time in an aircraft.   And, this by no means was Baumgartner's first daredevil stunt:  In 1999, he claimed the world record for the highest parachute jump from a building when he jumped from the Petronas Towers in Malaysia.  He became the first person to skydive across the English Channel in 2003 - he used a specially made carbon fiber wing. He also set the world record  when he jumped 95 feet from the hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. 

He didn't just wake up one morning and say, "I'm going to go up in a capsule tied to a balloon and break the sound barrier".  He had practiced, he underwent intense training, and even had to overcome panic attacks, as a result of  freefalling while confined by a helmet and cumbersome suit.  He overcame his fears with the help of a sports psychologist.

I don't know if Felix has any spiritual motivations, but his feat can certainly bring us some principles we can integrate into our lives:
1 - The Christian life is an adventure, and sometimes calls for boldness.
I think that there will be occasions when God wants us to trust Him for a task that, when it is complete, we can say it was only accomplished by the hand of God.   It may be a bold step in a relationship, perhaps even to share Christ with a family member.   It may be a seemingly impossible step to start a ministry or do something out of the ordinary - if we have accurately heard from God, we can know that He can produce a God-sized result.

2 - We can take an active or passive approach to challenges.  
On Felix's blog site, he is asked a question:
If you achieve your goal on Sunday, instead of another day, how do you feel about doing it on the same day that Chuck Yeager broke the speed of sound with a vehicle?
He replied:  In 65 years, it goes to show there are still challenges to overcome and you should never lose sight of trying to achieve them. I would be proud to be a part of that group of explorers.
If we are grounded in the Word and seeking to glorify Christ, we can learn to anticipate challenges and seek to overcome them, applying His principles and power.   Challenges will come, and sometimes we'll just wait for them to come, without taking either preventive action or being prepared when we face difficulty.   We have to be prepared, trained in godliness and in the use of the Scriptures to pass the tests that will come our way.

3 - Fear has to be eliminated or controlled. 
The Christian has tremendous resources available in order to overcome fear.   It's been estimated that the Bible has some 365 references telling us not to be afraid.   As we apply His truth and recognize that it is possible to control or eliminate fear, then we can experience a greater measure of faith in our lives.

Preparation and training are necessary - God will call us to bold undertakings; not necessarily high-profile or large undertakings, but I believe that from time to time, we'll be challenged to go outside our comfort zone and see the Lord work in an extraordinary way.