“Flying Trapeze”

When the circus comes to town, one of the most captivating acts is that of the flying trapeze. This performance involves flyers who climb up a very tall ladder and jump from a platform with a fly bar. They fly through the air on these bars performing aerial tricks, eventually being caught by a catcher flying on a separate catcher bar. The flyer must wait and listen for the call from the catcher, to make sure they leave the platform bar at just the right time, and ensure a successful catch and return to the original platform.

Sometimes the lives we lead place us on a flying trapeze. The Holy Spirit guides us by holding the lines of our safety harness, and attempts to catch us and keep us from falling. However, when we fail to listen for the call of the catcher, we become in danger of falling and many times will. Fortunately, our Savior, Jesus Christ operates as our safety net when we lose our grip and begin flying out of control. When we find ourselves falling into danger, He is there to catch us!

“Hang Ups”

Working with databases on a daily basis, you will often run into problems with hang ups, also referred to as lock ups and hiccups. When this happens, sometimes a system reboot is required to clear the error out of the machine. During the reboot, memory of the error is lost or wiped out, and the only thing that remains is what was saved. Once the computer is restarted, everything begins new.

Salvation works the same way. On a daily basis, we run into problems that hang us up. When this happens, we require a system reboot so we must repent and ask forgiveness for our sinful ways. During our humble repentance, forgiveness occurs and memory of our errors and sin are wiped clean. The only thing that remains is what was saved by the blood of God’s precious Son, Jesus Christ. Once we restart, everything begins new!

“Cleaning House”

One day we decided to clear out all of our kids’ old clothes that no longer fit to make room for new ones. In order to do this, we had to pull everything out and do inventory. We had a pile for what stays, one for what goes and one to decide on later. By the time we were done, we had clothes spread out all over the room and it looked like a tornado had hit. At that moment, we realized sometimes you have to make a mess of things to see what you have, determine what you need to get rid of and decide what you want to hold onto. Such is life... and what a revelation!

"A Life Shot"

Sometimes in life we have to get a shot in the arm. At first contact there will be an uncomfortable sting, but as the medicine (life’s reality checks) is injected, the sting you once felt is exchanged for a painful burn that seems to last forever. You yell, “Ouch that hurt!” (Form of defense) and begin to rub the sore area (in other words, you pacify yourself). As you begin to “ponder” on how much you dislike needles (instruments used for getting under the skin), you think on why you had to have the shot in the arm in the first place; it was obviously necessary.

So after some time and soothing, the hurt you once felt has subsided, and the medicine you needed all along finally begins to sink in and guess what? You become a better person.