Empowered for anything......

"Felix Baumgartner stood alone at the edge of space, poised in the open doorway of a capsule suspended above Earth and wondering if he would make it back alive. Twenty four miles below him, millions of people were right there with him, watching on the Internet and marveling at the wonder of the moment.A second later, he stepped off the capsule and barreled toward the New Mexico desert as a tiny white speck against a darkly-tinted sky. Millions watched him breathlessly as he shattered the sound barrier and then landed safely about nine minutes later, becoming the world’s first supersonic skydiver"  As Macie and I sat glued to the t.v. all 9 minutes you could've heard a pin drop. The intensity of the moment was overwhelming for us just watching. It seemed impossible that he would succeed and extremely dangerous. All human rationale would point away from even considering such a risky jump but here before you was a man with a dream, a vision and a drive to push beyond that fear and adversity and only focus on the potential success ahead.

As Felix glanced over the edge of the Space Balloon which held him safely along his ascent to an altitude of 128, 100ft he took a deep breathe unaware of if it was his last. I can't imagine the plethora of emotions running through his head. Fear, excitement, doubt, anticipation, anxiousness. As the questions of the unknown clouded his mind with thoughts of whether he would ever see his family again and all the logistics of his jump ahead he simply closed his eyes and let go. When asked what he was feeling right before he was quoted as saying "please God, don’t let me down…but if you are standing in His Son’s arm, you know, nothing can go wrong at that moment. That was what I was thinking." To imagine being on the edge of so many unknowns but still resting assured in Christ's faithfulness is the perfect example of faith. When everything before you points the other way and your human fear is crippling and yet you still make the decision to let go and rest in His arms is a testimony.

None of us will ever jump from a balloon at 128,100ft in the air I'm sure but we have all found ourselves teetering over the edge of something difficult in life trying to decide whether to rest in the safe zone and not risk the unknown of the jump or to take a deep breath, lean forward, and let go. Like Felix it can be scary to look down and see nothing there but only an open path that God has asked us to travel down. The task at hand may look much bigger than we feel we are capable of and it just seems impossible, but if God has placed it in front of us then we can rest assured that He will help us along the way.

One of my favorite verses which I have shared many times before is Philipians 4:13 "I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]." This verse doesn't say I have strength for some things, a few things, or the easy things it says I have strength for ALL things in Christ. I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him. God's power and strength is limitless so if we are capable of all things equal to Christ there are no limits. In the moments where we feel incapable and inadequate we can be reminded that our strength is not based on human power but the supernatural strength and power of Christ for anything which He has called us to. 

 I don't know what situation you are facing as you dangle on the side of your balloon today but I do know that if you will loosen your grip and let go God will be faithful and He will catch you and help you glide gently through the clouds of the unknown to the finish line on the ground below.