Falling So I Could Stand

There’s an old saying that goes ”If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” I’d like to think that as I go through life, I stand up for Jesus. I’d like to think that what He tells me is important is what truly drives me. I’d like to think that I don’t fall easily. I was confronted with that reality last Thursday on my mission trip.

I had such an incredible week serving. I loved the relationships that I developed, not only with team members, but with the owners of the home I worked on. I sat quietly each day and asked God to teach me and He did. And I had a lot of fun…I laughed at times until tears streamed down my face. I felt joy and was greatly blessed.

On Thursday morning, I was on the roof of a house where I had been all week. We put a tin roof on one side and were now working on the other side. It was raining so we worked intermittently between the rain drops. At one point, I was on the edge of the roof as I crouched down to put the last row of screws in a 3 foot piece of tin. My left foot slipped. As I tried to catch myself, my right foot hit the wet tin and in seconds I realized both feet had slipped and I was going down. In that moment, I looked down and saw that a deck and metal table below were about to greet me. Pure terror went through my veins. I remember thinking, “This is it.” And then I fell.

The pain that encompassed my body was worse than child birth. As I laid on the gurney in the ER for over 2 hours, I just talked to God. He taught me about my attachment to this world. He revealed areas of my life that I held on to a bit too tightly. I knew things needed to change. I was so thankful for that time with Him and that teachable moment that changed my perspective.

Later, the doctor told me not a thing was broken and I was free to go. I was still in great pain, but I was healable. I was up walking and talking and felt such joy and freedom that by the time I reached the parking lot of the hospital, I was dancing. I know without out a doubt, I fell into the arms of Jesus. I did not actually bounce off a deck as my team members witnessed. I’m sure it just looked like that to them.

So I may, at some point, physically fall again, but have pushed my faith stake deeper in the ground and I will always stand up for my Jesus! Two scriptures come to mind as I think about this world - Ecclesiastes 2:11 "Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind: nothing was gained under the sun." and Psalm 127:1 "Unless the Lord builds the house, it's builders labor in vain."

I must concentrate on the things in this world that have eternal value...nothing else much matters.