Come On Up! The View Is Great!
I have to admit, I don’t like not knowing where I am going. The thought of a leisurely afternoon through a corn maze brings a bead of sweat across my forehead. I read mystery novels starting with the last chapte because I don’t like suspense. I often go online to search for ‘spoilers’ before going to a movie. At one point, I was banned from going to movies with my friends because I would hide under my coat at the tense moments in movies. How tense can a PG-13 movie be? Just ask me. If I am going on a road trip, I plan out the trip in minute detail, just so there are no nasty surprises along the way.
However, my little neuroses are petty in comparison to a dilemma my mother faced several years ago. She is barely 5 foot tall, extremely nearsighted, night blind and slightly claustrophobic in crowds. She is also an avid football fan and held a season ticket right on the 50 yard line for decades, cheering on her beloved Calgary Stampeders. No matter what the weather, she would carpool with other diehard fans and travel across her city to the football stadium. As their seats were scattered throughout the stadium, it was their practice to meet up after the game at a specified exit. My mother made it her practice to leave a few minutes before the end of the game to beat the rush, but one day the play on the field was so exciting, she stayed until the sound of the horn.
As she made her way down the concourse below the bleachers, panic began to rise as she found herself caught up in a wave of people all heading toward an exit that she did not wish to take. Jostled by excited fans, unable to see past the shoulder blades of those around her, she tried to press against the crowd. The crowd only pressed back. She was desperate to find a way out. Her heart began to race, and her inner turmoil became evident on her face. To her horror, tears began to well up. What would people think? A grey-haired, little old lady having a panic attack?
Enter her hero; a tall, dark and handsome Mountie. I kid you not! The young officer saw her distress and came alongside her, asking her where she was headed. Calmly, he reassured her that he could guide her to her exit then asked her to grab hold of his coat-tail. And so she did. From his vantage, the way was clear. He was a good head above anyone else in the crowd. He carried no fear, wearing authority in the form of his uniform and his stride. The crowds parted, at his request, and he led my distraught mother safely to the correct exit, much to my mother’s everlasting thanks. Releasing her death grip on his coat-tail, my mother found herself in fresh air, safe in the company of her friends who guided her to their car.
Do you find yourself pressed in by problems and situations coming against you? Are you in danger of being dragged toward places you don’t want to go? Call out to Jesus, he will direct your path; he will be your shepherd. He is seated far above all circumstances, all principalities and all powers that would come against you. Take his invitation to sit with him in heavenly places; take advantage of his view of your personal circumstances and you’ll see the view is great from up there.
Ephesians 1:16-23
I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Until next week,
© 2012 Katherine Walden