A Safe Landing
For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity. – Proverbs 24:16.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. – 1 Corinthians 15:58.
“His head was down, his feet were up, and he came whizzing by screaming.” Chris Hoyle had looked out her window just in time to see Ken Larsen on the way down from the top of a five-story building. Larsen survived the fall with no broken bones, and was only bruised and scraped.
Ken Larsen’s frightening fall seems to be a picture of many lives, which for a variety of reasons may go out of control. Many of the prayer requests we receive are from people whose lives appear to be rapidly heading for a crash landing. Some have financial problems, health problems, marital problems, job problems, sin problems or a combination of problems. So what do you do when you find your life coming apart, and you are falling?
Ken Larsen was on top of the building laying telecommunications cable. He was walking backward pulling on the cable and his co-worker was holding the spool feeding it out. When Ken stepped off the roof he still had the cable in his hands. He held on, gripping tighter and tighter, which broke his fall. He landed on his feet, even though much of the fall was head first. Meanwhile, back on the roof his co-worker leaned against the spool of cable trying to slow the rate the cable fed out.
The only thing that will slow our fall is to hang onto God. In 1 Corinthians 15:58 we are told, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord….” To have a safe landing, we must be steadfast, immovable in our confidence in God. It also helps as it did for Ken Larsen, and for others, to be trying to slow our rate of fall as well. It does make a difference when we do as the apostle exhorted us “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men… (1 Timothy 2:1).”
If we want to have a safe landing we must be steadfast in our faith. No matter how bad it may seem that life has become, or has the potential to become; always believe that God is the One, who can help you, who can change things. Persist in praying, and asking others to pray for you, because it will make a difference. No matter what terrible or horrific things may happen to you or to your family, always trust God; always believe that He loves you, and cares about you, because He does. He is the only One who has the power to bring good out of the bad, no matter how bad it may be (Romans 8:28). As the apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 5:7, put all of your anxiety, all of your cares upon God because He cares about you.
(Find out what you do when you find your life falling apart.)