Slippery Slope
Theme for this Week: Object of Trust
Ben Patterson
Thursday, December 20, 2001
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: I cried out, "I'm slipping!" And your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me (Psalm 94:18).
Bonus Reading: Psalm 94:16-19
I was climbing Yosemite's Mount Lyell with three friends. Soon the two who were experienced mountaineers moved out ahead. Being competitive by nature, I looked for a shortcut to overtake them. I thought I saw one to the right of an outcropping of rock, and set out. But 30 minutes later, I was trapped in a cul-de-sac atop the Lyell Glacier, looking down several hundred feet of sheer ice slope!
My two friends came to my rescue. Standing ten feet away on the rock I wanted to reach, one used an ice axe to chip two little footsteps in the glacier. "Ben," he instructed, "step out and put your foot on the first foothold. When your foot touches it, without a moment's hesitation swing your other foot across onto the next foothold. As you do so, reach out, and I'll pull you to safety. But don't lean into the mountain! If anything, lean out a bit. Otherwise, your feet may fly out from under you and you'll start sliding down.""
Based solely on what I believe to be true about the good will and good sense of my friend, I stifled my impulse to cling to the security of the mountain. It took less than two seconds to find out if my faith was well-founded. It was.
Ben Patterson in Waiting My Response:
An area in which obeying God runs counter to my instincts is .
Thought to Apply:
Trust involves letting go and knowing God will catch you.
James Dobson (psychologist, broadcaster)
Adapted from: Waiting (InterVarsity, 1990).
For your convenience, Waiting is available in the ChristianityToday.com bookstore.
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Men of Integrity magazine.
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Sovereign Lord, help me to grasp how inferior the finest human resources are to Your infinite wisdom and power.
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