Is God Your Parachute?

We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it.  C.S. Lewis

Many years ago I dated a guy who owned a plane and he loved to parachute out of it.  He had friends that he would take up in his plane and they would parachute into our college stadium at the beginning of football games.  They would control the parachute with ropes and handles so that they could land in formation on the field. 

I never quite understood his fascination with jumping out of a perfectly good plane.  I think that is probably because I don’t like heights or maybe it’s because I don’t like falls.  I climbed trees when I was a kid and I always enjoyed the climb up but never the trip down.

 

My next thought was I wonder how the first guy who decided to use the first parachute felt when it was time to jump.  I can just imagine the thoughts that went through his head as he leaned over the side of the plane and looked at all that wide open space and the ground below.  “How do I know this sheet strapped to my back is going to open once I step out into that open space?”  “What happens if I didn’t fold it right and it doesn’t open properly?”  “How will I control where I land and the condition I will be in when I land?” 

When I started researching the parachute I found a lot of stuff labeled the first “successful” parachute jump.  If you have to emphasize successful in the story it’s probably not something I want to do because the opposite of that can’t be good.  There was also the guy who held the dubious honor of being the first recorded incident of someone dying in a parachute accident. Robert Cocking was an artist who was interested in science.  To make a long story short, he built a parachute that weighed 250 pounds. When he jumped the parachute turned inside out like an umbrella and you can guess the rest.  He should have stuck to art.

This quote by C.S. Lewis made me stop and think.  Do we treat God like we would our parachute?  Do we only call on Him when we are in trouble or during an emergency?  I have learned over the years to give it all to him.  I don’t give Him just the parts that I don’t think I can handle; I give it all to Him.  If I want to understand His incredible power, I need to give it all to Him and trust Him with the details. 

  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want You to be in charge of my life.  I don’t want You there just in the emergencies or storms of life.  I want You there all the time.  You know what is best for me and if I give you control of it all, You will guide me in the way I should go.  I praise and thank You for every blessing and challenge in my life. 

          

Scripture: In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.  No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.  Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.  For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.  They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart  and free me from my anguish. Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me!

Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.  Psalm 25