What’s The Worst That Could Happen?

How is your day going so far?

It’s a funny thing how we can find ourselves one moment cruising through life, the next moment face to face with a crisis of unimaginable proportions.

And if you find yourself feeling a bit overwhelmed by a sudden change in your personal circumstances today, you certainly aren’t alone.

Consider the crash course in crisis management taken by a young soldier named Daniel Pharr.

Daniel had been given an introductory sky diving lesson as a Christmas present.

He would dive in tandem with an experienced instructor so he could experience the full thrill of free fall combined with the safety of having an expert handle all the mechanics of the jump.

His instructor Chip Steele had recorded over 8,000 successful jumps and was considered an expert in the sport.

What could possibly go wrong?

What is the worst that could happen?

Here’s the report from the London Times-

Novice skydiver, Daniel Pharr, survives after

instructor dies of heart attack

The pair were the last of about 10 skydivers to jump out of the plane and, after a minute of free fall, he said the instructor “pulled the chute”.

“It got super quiet. It’s eerily quiet up there. I made the comment to him, ’It’s surprising how quiet it is.’ And he’s like: ’Welcome to my world,”’ Mr Pharr said.

A few seconds passed, and he asked his instructor another question. This time, Mr Steele didn’t answer. Mr Pharr repeated his question, to no avail.

“And then I just looked up at him and he looked like he was conscious, but just talking to him, I realised something was wrong,” Mr Pharr said. “So at that point I realised I was just going to have to do what I had to do to get down to the ground and try to help him.”

How did a rookie sky diver manage to survive such an ordeal?

Staff at the diving school later said that if the novice – a soldier based in Georgia – had pulled his toggle too hard, the parachute would have spun out of control and he, too, would have died.

“They told me afterward that it was amazing that I knew to do that. This is my survival instinct at that point. I just kind of did what I had to do,” he said.

The moral of the story?

No matter how sure we are of their trustworthiness, putting your trust in people is always a risk.

No matter how skilled or competent that person may be, they may not be there for us when we need them the most.

A good thought to keep in mind in our spiritual lives, don’t you think?

There are those in the Christian life who make the subtle but critical spiritual error of putting their faith in a person, place or a program.

Even a spiritual rock like the apostle Paul warned that faith in anyone or anything less than Jesus is a recipe for disaster.

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.  So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.  Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 3:5-11)

Have you ever had the chance to talk with someone who describes themselves as an “ex-Christian”?

Sooner or later, after all the standard “Can God make a rock so big He can’t lift it?” smoke blows away, the real reason for their loss of faith manifests itself.

Someone or some organization who names the name of Christ had done them wrong.

More often than not, it isn’t God, but God’s people that have let them down.

Their faith failed because they built on the wrong foundation.

Here’s a news flash.

Sky diving instructors with 8,000 jumps on their resume still can have heart attacks in mid flight.

Pastors with years of faithful service under their belts can still fall.

Christian celebrities with mega churches and nationally syndicated broadcasts are still just as human and prone to stumbling as you or me.

There is only one way to avoid finding ourselves in a spiritual free fall.

Be a Christian because you love Jesus.

Don’t put your faith and trust in even one of His most admirable servants.

Jesus will never lead you astray.

He is no hypocrite.

He alone is the One Who will lead you safely home.

As it is written:

“ Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 9:33)