Soaring
To Greater Significance
Pioneers
are a unique breed. Like the Star Trek
crew going to the final frontier, they dare to dream and begin to do. Whether it’s a geographical destination of
going to another continent, flying across the Atlantic like Lindbergh, or
walking on the moon like Armstrong, we are grateful for these trailblazers that
were willing to risk life and limb to go where no man had gone before.
On
June 4, 1783 at the market square in the French village of Annonay, not far
from Paris, a smoky bonfire on a raised platform was fed by wet straw and old
wool rags. Tethered above, straining its
lines, was a huge taffeta bag 33 feet in diameter. Many of the observers just shook their heads
and clicked their tongues. “How could any man make such a claim?”
Yet,
they continued to gather throughout the day.
However, as the flames were fanned and the balloon began to pull tightly
and forcibly against the basket, the skeptics began to change their minds as
they saw the basket begin to lift itself up slightly above the ground,
straining at its tethers. Then, in the
presence of “a respectable assembly and a great many other people,” and
accompanied by great cheering, the balloon was cut from its moorings and set
free to rise majestically into the noon sky.
Six
thousand feet into the air it went---the first public ascent of a balloon, the
first step in the history of human flight.
It came to earth several miles away in a field, where it was promptly
attacked by pitchfork-waving peasants and torn to pieces as an instrument of
evil!
The
same is true when you become part of God’s plans. In this day and age, there is no shortage of
people with drawn pitch-forks ready to puncture your proverbial balloon not
after, but before you start to rise. The world encourages safety and denounces
doing things that will change our lives and those of others around us.
But God always found a Daniel who was willing
to confront the gods of his culture, Joshua and Caleb who knew God was bigger,
and Joseph who, in spite of tremendous conflict, managed to rise above the fray
of evil behavior from his own family.
In
John 9, we read the story of a man who had been blind since he was born. In one of the most unusual healings in the
Bible, Jesus spits on the ground, makes a mud-ball, and puts it on the guy’s
eyes. Immediately, he can see and he
starts to tell people about it.
Rather
than rejoicing in the accomplishment, out come the Scribes and Pharisees with
the pitchforks. Wanting to discredit
Jesus, the Bible tells us, “Then they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give
glory to God,” they said. “We know this
man is a sinner.” He replied,
“Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t
know. One thing I do know. I was blind, but now I see!” (1 John 9:24,
25)
Step
forward for God and you’ll find a few critics.
But far better, you’ll find someone that will back you in whatever you
face. That’s the kind of pioneers that
God loves to see.
Terry
Risser
Consider reading the Word today:
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