By Glenn Packiam
Faith is easy from a distance. I have all kinds of faith that God can do impossible things when I’m not counting on Him to do any of those things for me! It’s easier to tell God what I believe He can do than to trust Him to do it like my life depends on it.
On August 14, 1859, thousands gathered to watch French acrobat Charles Blondin attempt to walk across a tightrope over Niagara Falls. I imagine Blondin asking the crowd if they believed he could do it. “Yes!” they would have cheered. After all, he had already walked across several times that summer.
Then I imagine him asking for a volunteer to ride on his back! Silence would have fallen on the crowd. Watching is not the same as going along, is it?
But that day Blondin’s manager, Harry Colcord, got on his back. As they began their walk over the rushing falls, Blondin turned to Colcord and told him to look up. He told him that he was no longer “Colcord” but “Blondin,” meaning they would be like one man, mind, body and soul, until they crossed the falls. Blondin instructed his manager to sway with him and not to attempt any balancing himself — because if he did, they would both fall to their deaths.
Believing that Blondin could walk the rope was different from believing in him. For us, too, if we say, “We believe that …” we are making a statement about something; it is propositional truth. There is some distance between us and the thing we’re proposing. That’s why many scriptures, and early Christian confessions of faith like the Nicene Creed, begin with the emphatic words, “We believe in …” Total trust.
I’m reminded of Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
As Christians, we’ve died to an old way of living. And yet we must go on living our daily lives. Each day is to be lived by faith in Jesus. Faith is more than cheering from the sidelines. Faith is not merely believing that there is a God. Faith beckons us onto the wire — not to walk alone or to balance ourselves but to cling to Jesus.
Blondin — and his sweating manager — safely crossed the falls. But here’s the even better news: Jesus is the One who loves you and gave Himself for you. He’s worthy of your trust. And He won’t let you fall. You can trust in Him like your life depends on it.
Jesus, help me cling to You. Let me not attempt a step without You. I draw near to You in faith today. Carry me across the wire. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.