A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff. He accidentally got too close to the edge and fell.
On the way down, he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet.
He couldn’t hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something.
“Help! Help! Is anyone up there? Help!”
He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice.
“Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, yes! I can hear you. I’m down here!”
“I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?”
“Yes, but who are you, and where are you?”
“I am the Lord, Jack. I’m everywhere.”
“The Lord? You mean, God?”
“That’s Me.”
“God, please help me! I promise if, you’ll get me down from here, I’ll stop sinning. I’ll be a really good person. I’ll serve You for the rest of my life.”
“Easy on the promises, Jack. Let’s get you down from there; then we can talk. Now, here’s what I want you to do. Listen carefully.”
“I’ll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do.”
“Okay. Let go of the branch.”
“What?” asked Jack.
“I said, Let go of the branch. Just trust Me. Let go!”
There was a long silence.
Finally, Jack yelled, “Help! Help! Is anyone else up there?”
Have you ever felt like Jack?
We say that we want to know the will of God, but when we find out what it is, we can’t handle it. Sounds too scary or too difficult, and we decide to look elsewhere.
When He says, “Let go of the things that stand between you and Me, and trust Me with your life,” it sounds pretty scary.
But when we let go, we find freedom and safety in His hands.
Thanks for this wonderful message, simple story with great depth and message in it…makes us realise of what we go through our daily life…
Father, in the name of Jesus I let go of anything that stands in the way between you and I. I receive grace, help,Joy, peace and strength directly from you, as I put my trust in you forever. Amen.
Thanks for such a touching message It is true that “Holding on to what you think you need won’t make you happier; letting go so you can reach for and try to earn what you want will”.
wow- oh what an up lift men,t to me this is the word for the year we need to put our trust in the lord only he can help us
This is beautiful. So very true. Lord,help me to truly trust in thee
Yes God don’t need our help. God can do everything and All things for ALL. Let Go and Let God Promise He has you. Believe in Gods voice and have faith to follow through the Good and bad. God is in Control. Amen. 🙂 Do it afraid you’ll lol after saying what a whimp I was. inside the Whimp is the word HIM TRUST HIM> 🙂
“Help me Lord to relay on you”
I love this message,it taught us how uncertain the world is,but our GOD is unchanging,even if we face hard times,He is our solid Rock.The future is so unpredictable,but we are sure GOD has us in his hands.
Than kyou for the message.Many are the times we say that we love God but this is not demonstrated by our obedient to His instructions in our lives.This is a challenge to every believer. Thank you again
What I received from this reading is that we tend to make all these promises to God our Father when we are in trouble. As we continue to seek the Kingdom of God (which is already inside of us) and invite the Holy Spirit to be present (Because Jesus already said, “I am with you always’) we will come to know and grow in knowledge that we don’t need to make any promises!!!!! His Love is the Greatest Love mankind has ever known….all we have to do is BELIEVE AND RECEIVE!!!! One of my favorite Bible verses is “I am the potter and you are the clay” So let Him make us and mold us.
Yes I know it is hard to do the right things in our lives, but I truly know that there is the only one that can help me and you and His name is God.
It is sometimes very hard to do but look at what HE says in Isaiah 55 verse 8 and 9…….. ( look it up ) It’s HIS promise to you and me, and HE does come trough every time. …Indeed HE will do a new thing and you will find out that it better then your way.
This story is a good illustration of what frustrates me in the Christian circles today……NO FAITH!! People say they believe, but when they are asked to do something hard like lay down their lives, they run like scared rabbits…….Like make all kinds of excuses and/or run for every other options besides God.
Don’t you?
Wow! Jim, sounds like you got this whole thing mastered perfectly – you know, the letting go and laying down your life thing. Have you ever had a situation(s) where you were required to lay down your life for Christ? Like Stephen in the Bible or Paul of Tarsus or John the apostle? Maybe you can help us who are still slowly making baby steps towards letting go and our faith is still not that developed. How did you come out of these situations alive? Could you share your stories of how you let go of the branch?
Would you consider having a little more patience and mercy for Christians who are still learning to walk confidently with the Lord and sometimes stumbling and chocking and even running from instead of toward God? Our God is a merciful God and gives us second chances and picks us up when we fall. If you have it down pat, could you exercise God’s love and mercy towards these weaker ones while standing in the gap for them rather than being frustrated and exasperated with them? Thanks Jim
This is sweet.The desire of my heart is to know the perfect will of God for my life! I hope i will not behave like this when He comes to my rescue.
Wow, this is really deep! Most times we hold unto past relationships, past help…. We know the relationship ain’t that right but we are so afraid to let go for fear of being alone. And God is saying “let go my child, behold I will do a new thing; I will make a way even in the wilderness”….But we doubt Him. I love this article.
This message is really for me and I am deeply touched.Thanks
what happens next?
This is awesome thank you for sharing God bless you , praying for you !