More often, the
only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is
merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible.
Here's an article about faith from
Loren Cunningham
Is the life of
faith worth it? If you have ever experienced it, it truly ruins you for
the ordinary. Living the life of faith is like walking on a tightrope.
It is an incredible thrill.
In the 1800s, an
acrobat named Blondin (Jean-Francois Gravlet) became famous for crossing
Niagara Falls by tightrope many times, usually with no safety net.
One day a crowd
gathered at the falls to watch his most dangerous attempt yet. He
planned to push a wheelbarrow loaded with a heavy sack of cement across
the tightrope. With that extra weight, the slightest miscalculation
could tip the wheelbarrow and twist him off the wire, plunging him to
death 160 feet below in the raging waters.
Thousands watched
breathlessly as he made his way across, placing one foot carefully in
front of the other, quietly pushing the wheelbarrow across the
spray-filled chasm, oblivious to the roar of the water beneath him.
When he made it
to the other side, the throng let out its collective breath and cheered.
What a feat! After his crossing, Blondin challenged a nearby reporter:
"Do you believe I can do anything on a tightrope?"
"Oh yes, Mr.
Blondin," said the reporter, "after what I've seen today, I believe it.
You can do anything."
"Do you believe,
then," said Blondin, "that instead of a sack of cement, I could put a
man in this wheelbarrow—a man who has never been on a tightrope
before—and wheel him, without a net, safely over to the other side?"
"Oh yes sir, Mr.
Blondin," said the reporter, "I believe it."
"Good," said
Blondin. "Get in."
The reporter
paled and quickly disappeared into the crowd. It's one thing to believe
something, but quite another to have that kind of faith in someone.
However, one
person that day did have that kind of faith in Blondin. This brave
volunteer agreed to get into the wheelbarrow and cross the falls with
the master acrobat.
As Blondin tipped
out the bag of cement and placed his passenger in the barrow, men on
both sides of the falls quickly placed bets on the outcome. Then as the
crowd cheered, Blondin made his way back across the falls, this time
pushing a nervous passenger ahead of him.
It looked like
another easy conquest for the daredevil. But when they were halfway
across the 1,600-foot rope, a man with a heavy bet against them crept
over and cut one of the guy wires.
Suddenly, the
tightrope pitched crazily back and forth, the force of the whipping
motion gaining in intensity. As Blondin fought to keep his balance, he
knew that they were seconds away from death. When the rim of the
wheelbarrow came off the wire, they would both be pitched headlong into
the churning waters.
Blondin spoke,
cutting through the terror of his passenger in the wheelbarrow. "Stand
up!" he commanded. "Stand up and grab my shoulders!"
The man sat there
paralyzed.
"Let go and stand
up! Let go of the wheelbarrow! Do it or die!"
Somehow the man
managed to stand up and step out of the swaying wheelbarrow.
"Your arms ...
put them round my neck! Now, your legs ... round my waist!" said Blondin.
Again the man
obeyed, clinging to Blondin. The empty wheelbarrow fell, disappearing
into the frothy turmoil far below. The aerialist stood there, using all
his years of experience and every trained muscle to stay on the wire
until the pitching subsided a little. Then inch by inch, he made his way
across, carrying the man like a child. Finally, he deposited him on the
other side.
That's what it
means to live the life of faith. You have to have real confidence in the
One who is carrying you across. It is fairly easy to say you believe in
God. But are you willing to have Him carry you across a tightrope, high
above a roar of water? You can have that experience, you know. You can
have the thrill of trusting God and seeing Him meet your needs.
This is what it
comes down to, in living by faith. It is faith in God Himself. There is
no system or ritual to it. It is faith in a living person, faith that He
will help you accomplish the job He has given you to do.
He has big
challenges, planned just for you. He wants you to have a major part in
the most exciting race of history—the race to take the Gospel to every
creature. He wants to see you be the best you can be—for Him, and for
your world around you. Take up the challenge. Step out for Him. Trust
Him. Dare to live on the edge.
By Tim Pedrosa
Faith
in spirituality enables us to trust ourselves. With trust we can let go
of the past and have the courage to dare. To dare with courage gives us
the confidence to know that we can achieve what we set out to achieve.
If we begin with doubt then we have sown the seed of possible failure.
Faith in spirituality always allows us to win. Every step of faith opens
another chapter in our lives.–Unknown
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