Five Minute Friday: Jump

The very word, I admit, makes me want to sit down. Play it safe. 

You say: "Jump."

I say, "Do I have to? I don't want to!"

I was led to the deep end of the pool during swimming lessons.

I was told to jump in.

I couldn't!

I refused. I'm pretty sure my face was wet and it wasn't from the water in the pool.

Authority won and I had to jump. The instructor had promised me that if I needed it, she would stick out a pole that I could grab hold of. Of course as soon as I jumped in, and there was nothing solid under my feet, I felt like I needed rescuing. When I reached up, the pole was not there! 

Panic struck, I flailed! 

I suppose that instructor thought she was doing me a favour, thinking it would make me be brave. Sometimes our fears may seem irrational, but sometimes we have reason to fear and we need to work through those monsters before we can jump. We need to know there is someone there we can trust.

If we are not prepared to jump, deeper fear will settle in.

For a child who had survived cancer, but was left with half of her lung capacity and atrophied muscles, swimming for me was like the empty bottle in water, bobbling around briefly on the surface and then sinking fast. To be told to jump into the deep end, while extremely terrified, without a sure hope in the end, was not beneficial.

::

Thirty years later, on a hot summer day, I ran right off the end of the dock. Jumped right into the dark water, celebrating a call from the hospital with test results just returned. All clear! As a woman now at high risk for a secondary cancer, each summer I am to return and have an MRI scan to make sure cancer stays away.

Sometimes the bigger fear is not the jumping, but fearing the possibilities.

But whatever our possible reality might be, we never have to jump alone. No one hovers over us with a pole purposefully out of our reach.

Whatever we may face, we can call out to a powerful God who loves us with arms stretched out wide desiring us to jump right up and into His loving and tender embrace.

::

Something in your life that it is so terrifying that you can hardly move? Can't jump? And you have every reason not to? But you have no choice? You have to! 

Jump. But, before you do, know that you are being held and strengthened by the God of hope.

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."

 ***

Reflecting and writing on the word prompt given here for Five Minute Friday at Lisa-Jo's place. 

This week the prompt is: Jump

Officially, the rules are:

1. Write for 5 minutes (A number of weeks ago, I made this confession that I don't always exactly keep to the five minutes. )

2. Link up at Lisa-Jo's  and invite others to join in.

3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community...