Trampolines are making a come back. As a kid, everyone wanted a trampoline in their backyard. Those brave souls would jump and jump, even flip and leap.
But can I be honest for a second. I never really liked trampolines. Jumping by myself was fine. But I was too chicken to flip or do any of the cool tricks that other people tried. And do you remember what happened when multiple people would jump on with you? It was inevitable that everyone would get out of rhythm. That someone would bounce up and down as you were bouncing down and up. Your feet would hit the tarp just as someone else was landing opposite of you. Jarring your shins and knees. Or when you inevitable stumble and end up laying on the tarp unable to get back to your feet as everyone bounces you here, there, and everywhere. Narrowly avoiding whiplash or a concussion.
Trampolines just weren’t my thing. I liked my feet on solid ground. It is always where it is supposed to be.
On Christ the Solid Rock, I stand… all other ground is sinking sand.
Lately life has been throwing some curveballs. Stuff that just make me feel a little unbalanced. A lot of it seems to come out of nowhere, and most is out of my control. When my security is based on my circumstances, the unexpected can easily leave me lurching one way or another. Grasping for solid ground. Grasping for is at any cost. Desperate to so whatever it takes to get the ground back underneath me. And when its out of my control, I am right back on that trampoline, being bounced all over the place without a safe place to stand.
This week over and over, that old hymn keeps running through my mind. “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
Sinking sand or a trampoline.
But Christ is my solid rock, my stable ground. The one thing that won’t shift and shake underneath me. And if I find myself off balance, then I must be standing in the wrong place.
Sometimes I try to wedge that solid ground underneath my lopsided circumstances. TO compromise the Truth to bend to what is happening in my life. So I can have the best of both worlds.
But God has continually affirmed in this season that the world also tries to have it all. Tries to fit the Truth of the Gospel into their own world view or desires. And that never works.
Sometimes I just need to let go. To stand only on what is true. Letting it bring me comfort and security in the midst of the hard and the chaotic. To stop trying to change what life is throwing at me and choose peace. To pray and give it all over to the Lord. To trust that He has it under control.
What is the Truth that I am believing. That Christ is ultimately in charge of the sanctification of His people. That He is for us and not against us. That He loves us and our fellow believers more than we can ever love on our own. That His grace is sufficient in our weakness. That He has provided everything we need for today, and He promises that we will never be put to shame. And ultimately I am believing that He will not treat us as our sins deserve because Christ already took that punishment for us on the cross.
I can ultimately choose to get off the trampoline. I can stand on firm ground. Sometimes I am not in control of my circumstances, but I am responsible for my own response. I must choose Truth. I must choose to let God be sovereign and in control. I must choose to trust that if I stand on the foundation that Christ laid out for us in scripture that everything will turn out ok. Not just ok, but amazing. Amazing does not mean everyone will be happy all the time. Amazing does not mean that everything that is wrong or broken will right itself this side of Heaven. But Amazing means that God will be glorified. That His people will be protected. And that His hand will prevail.
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
