As I walked beside the cliff on the narrow dirt path, I looked out and admired the beauty of Lake Atitlin. The warm sun, clear water, and volcano backdrop stirred my anticipation. I turned the corner and stepped onto the cliff jumping deck. I knew if I thought too much about it I would be too nervous to jump off the deck and land in the water 40 feet below, so I set my bag down, took off my shoes and over clothes, handed the guy my ticket, ran, and jumped. Now, I am in mid air falling quickly towards the water, but not quickly enough. In these two seconds I think to myself, “oh crap. What do I do now?”…
Quite often the Lord shows me wild truths through things I do naturally. This mid air, full of fear, breath held, eyes closed, no turning back, praying for survival moment can sometimes describe what saying yes to Jesus can feel like. In reality, I was mid air about to be caught by the waves. Spiritually I am mid air about to be caught by my Father.
There are so many things about the action of cliff jumping that line up with the spiritual action of fully saying yes to the Lord. It is a journey. The Lord will ask for small levels of surrender first; He will build trust over time. He is always in the process of pruning us and preparing us if we are willing to let Him. When I arrived at the cliff jumping deck, I had to lay everything down. In order to pick up what the Lord has for you, you have to surrender it all. This doesn’t always mean giving something up forever, but it means that with or without it God is still good, and it does not keep you from pursuing Him fully. He is worth it all. In the natural, I laid down my bag, took off my over clothes, and took out my earrings. I had nothing but myself and my swimsuit. In the spirit, I have laid down my pride, control, all my possessions, the people I love, my time, and ultimately my life. I then turned my ticket in. Jesus is the one who qualifies you. He is your ticket. You are loved, chosen, powerful, and He will fully equip you to do whatever He is calling you to do. Run and jump. Do not look back. Do not overthink. Do not let other people stop you. Do not believe the lies of the enemy. Do not hesitate to run to Him! Do not hesitate to jump into His love. Life with Him is abundant and worth it.
Free fall.
Dang. I am getting emotionally thinking about this. You see these are the seasons where you have laid it all down, trusted, jumped, but you haven’t quite hit the water and seen the fruits of your “yes”. I believe this is where God does a deep work. At least this is where He is doing a deep work in me. There is no turning back. You have absolutely no control, but you know what’s catching you. In mid air is where the fear hits hard; The enemy tries to do everything he can to attack your mind because there is nothing else he can do. Fear can distract you, but it can not change the truth. The truth is that God is in control, and you are about to fall perfectly into His plan, love, provision, grace, joy, and abundance. In the free fall you have the choice of faith or fear. Instead of allowing the fear to overtake you, allow yourself to rest knowing that God is for you, and you can trust Him.
In Ephesians it talks about the Full Amour of Christ. Faith is the shield, so when the fiery arrows of fear coming flying at you, your faith will protect you. Faith is complete trust even when you can’t see the outcome. We can not blindly trust, fully surrender, or jump if we do not know WHO we have faith in. We must commit daily and truly know Him. Jesus is my friend. I know Him. SO when He asks me to jump, I trust Him and go for it. When the fear comes I have the faith to trust the One I am landing in. I know He will catch me.
Commit.
Trust.
Surrender.
Go through the process.
Build your faith.
Know His love.
And when it is time jump.
I promise it is worth it.
…my feet hit the water and quickly I was completely consumed. I swam up and broke through the surface. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath.I swam to the cliff and pulled myself out of the water. My mind skipped back to my previous doubts of the water catching me, and I laughed thinking, Why would I ever doubt something that I know is true? I climbed back to the top of the cliff, and again…I jumped.
I hope this encourages you! It has been quite the process for me. God is so fun.
I love you all!
Abigail Criqui
