OLD AGE’S RAMBLINGS #2
I read somewhere this week that a baby when learning to walk has to fall down around 750 times before it builds the strength in it’s legs to be able to walk unassisted. It is the getting back up off the ground, pushing off their little bums to their feet after falling down that develops their leg muscles to the point of being strong enough to walk!
That sends sparks through my head! In my own journey towards healing over a number of years, I’ve fallen down ALOT of times. Back in the midst of the early days of my fight it seemed that I was in this continual cycle of having a good day, followed by a bad day, followed by a couple of good days (or good hours) followed by three bad days, etc, etc. Now as I have the honour of travelling alongside a bunch of young people who are fighting hard to beat addiction or replacing old self-serving habits with new ones that honour God, I see that same process being repeated! Good choices being strung together for 24, 36, 48 hours and then spectacular falls and crashes!
Sometimes it’s easiest when you fall to just stay down. Who wants to go through the cycle again? Who wants to have their hope that ‘maybe this time it’ll be different’ or ‘maybe this time I wont give in to temptation’ go up in flames for what seems like the bizillionth time? But there’s something within the human soul, (that I can only put down to either sheer stubborness or God’s very own Spirit) that stirs us to rise to our feet again and try to take a few more faltering but glorious baby steps in a God-ward direction.
Maybe you’ve fallen one too many times and can’t be bothered getting back on your feet! Maybe you’ve lost count of the number of times you’ve landed on your face after a spectacular fall from grace. Maybe you have no one around you cheering you to rise to your feet one more time. Maybe… but what if… what if the next time you get to your feet is the 750th time?
come on…
Thanks for this timely encouragement and making my day a little bit nicer.
andrew p — 4/16/2008
Haha Age, this is where it all started…. still love this article, have a great down and again i repeat, “That was really awesome. Thanks for ur honesty. I pray that God would bless you, your family and ministry greater than u could ever imagine.”
Mitch — 1/22/2007
Wow, that was fantastic :-). What a word of encouragement - for us as believers - to keep on rising. Just like Gideon! Thanks for sharing God’s heart with us!
Chels xx
Chels — 8/27/2005
Hey Age,
This is perhaps the best way I’ve personally seen this stuff put down with “pen and paper” so-to-speak. It can feel like that, and I guess some people out there just can’t imagine what pain it is. But hooray for God’s Spirit to push us on..
-Rod
Rod — 8/5/2005
That was really awesome. Thanks for ur honesty. I pray that God would bless you, your family and ministry greater than u could ever imagine. I also will put this on my blog and email it lol.
Mitch — 7/14/2005
Thanks for the encouragement Age
Dylan — 6/13/2005
Wow age….that’s just how it is hey? I’m going to steal this for my blog (hope that’s ok)!
Paula — 4/7/2005