A shared memory from my youth

Quite a long time ago, when I was perhaps 16, my family went up into the mountains to camp and have fun. I wandered here and there, looking the trees, huge boulders, and mountains. Then I heard a child whimpering.

It was my little sis, perhaps 3 or 4. She had claimed up on a rock and was afraid to climb down. She knew she was in trouble, and that if she fell it would be bad. But she feared attempting to climb down so she cried for help. I heard the call and found her. First I said, you can climb down, just come down the way you went up. But through teary eyes she shook her head, she was stuck. I put out my arms and asked her to jump. But she did not jump. She loved me, but she was not willing to trust me with her life.

So I said, hang on, I will get help and left. As quickly as I could I headed back to camp crying Abba, Father. He met me on the trail, put his hand on my shoulder and said, what is wrong. I told him, sis is stuck on a cliff and she is crying and shaking and suffering, go and help her. She does not trust me. And so my Dad, my Abba, my Father quickly went to his child's aid. He did not make any speech, he just looked up, smiled, and said in his imperative command voice, "Jump."

And my little sis jumped into the arms of the strongest man she had every known. He caught her like a feather and pulled her in with his Popeye sized forearms and said, there, there, its is all ok, you are safe and unhurt.

How many of us have been stuck on that cliff, knowing we are in great danger, but afraid to trust in anyone but ourselves but then someone brings their Father, and with a child like faith in the One who they trust with their life, they made that leap of faith.