One evening I walked out the door, dog on leash in one hand, cell phone in the other, while wearing Jason’s size 12 tennis shoes. I stopped on the top step to type a message to someone. I took another step down to finish the message. I stepped down one more time, only to plummet to the ground. I ended up on my back in the dirt. I thought I was on the last step but I had one more to go. I thought I was big enough to do all these things at once without watching the steps I took. I never even considered I might fall.
My husband stood on the porch and watched the whole thing. He rushed down the steps and held out his hand, asking me if I was ok. I laughed and told him I just wanted to sit there for a minute. He refused to let me, so I finally grabbed ahold of his hand and accepted his help. Once I was on my feet, he put his arm around me and asked me again if I was ok. I said I was and we both laughed.
As the night wore on, I became sore and ached in my lower back, hip and leg. It bothered me enough that I got out of bed and sat down to write the rough draft of this situation. I had to feel the pain to realize what it was symbolizing spiritually. The pain in my spirit I was feeling was much stronger than the physical. It was the pain of being separated from God. I had walked away from Him. I had so much going on and was so caught up in myself, I took my eyes off the steps I needed to take in my walk with the Lord. I had become haughty and didn’t even realize it. I had become a rebellious child towards my Father, yet He still reached out to me. He had never left me alone. I just chose to ignore and even argue about His mighty hand He stood there extending to me until I was down in the dirt. To my surprise, He took both the physical and spiritual pain I had felt completely from me.
When we fall, or mess up, as a Christian, we oftentimes are surprised we did. It’s not usually even intentional. We often begin to think we’re superhuman and cannot make a mistake; we think we cannot fall. I thought I could walk in shoes much bigger than my own. We all can fall into that way of thinking in our spiritual lives. I went a step further (pun intended) and took on even more tasks. I was holding on to a dog leash to take our little dog outside. In addition to my multi-tasking, I added texting to the mix, while walking down the steps. Sounds dangerous, right? Or maybe it sounds like no big deal. Are you saying, “I do things like that all the time, no problem.” Well, that’s what I thought too until I took a tumble. We can easily take our focus off of Him and replace it with things that are of very little importance.
As I thought about this, I could hear my mother say, “You’re going to trip and fall in those big ole shoes and break a bone.” Why could I hear her say that? Because I have heard her say that! She’s wise. She’s lived long enough, seen enough and knows enough that she could rightly give me that warning. She can see from a different point of view. She had offered that precise instruction, on more than one occasion, according to my memory of the phrase I heard in my head so clearly that night.
I can hear my Mom’s words throughout my life before I do something. She instructed me a lot, still does, but even in my late 30’s I still don’t heed her warning in all cases. It’s similar to the Holy Spirit warning us, bringing Scripture to light in situations that arise. That voice that echoes in our minds and in our hearts. It’s up to us whether we choose to take heed or ignore it. That is why it’s important to read the Word of God. We will know the truth and the truth will set us free and guide us in our lives. If we don’t read, asking for knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures, we won’t have the truth to count on when we need it.
When we fall spiritually, very often we will have pains (or consequences) from it. It may be physical, mental, emotional or even being called a hypocrite, ruining our reputation as a Christian. The important thing is to get back up, regardless. It actually humbles us, helping us to realize we are no better than anyone else. If we look past the lies Satan wants us to believe, we’ll see our Father is still there, holding His hand out to help us up, just as my husband was that evening. It can be hard to force ourselves to even want to get up after a fall. Sometimes maybe we choose to sit there for a while, or even for the rest of our lives. We must be aware of an important truth: God wants us up, the devil wants us down. After all, if we don’t get up, we won’t risk falling; we’re already down. But who really wants to just sit there in the dirt? We need to take hold of the hand of the Almighty that is offered out to us, regardless if we are ready to get up or not. We just have to be careful in our walk, knowing we can fall if we’re trying to fill shoes that we’ll never be able to fill. It’s dangerous ground we’re standing on when we think we are infallible.
1 Corinthians 10:11-12 KJV 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples (examples): and they are written for our admonition (instruction), upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed (care) lest he fall.
(Words in parenthesis are my addition for definition.)
The fall of those in the Holy Bible were written for instruction, for all the world to see. Sure, we’ll make our own mistakes at times, but there are so many laid out in the Word of God. If we read and put in our memory, maybe we won’t repeat all of them. We must remember: we are humans. We do need a Savior. That being said, we will make mistakes but God’s grace and mercy are abundant. Does that give us a free pass to sin? Certainly not, yet our Father knows we are prone to that sinful nature and He is loving and wants us to get up, dust off and keep moving forward. That’s one thing I know for sure!
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Maid in His Image 