The Risky Leap

With the image of blood soaking into the white shirt still fresh in my mind, I began to run. As sheer exhilaration made my heart pound within me, the words continued to ring in my head: “Whatever you do, don’t fall. Just keep running!” The mountain’s edge was fast approaching—there was no turning back. With a sudden jerk, I flew into the air as my paraglide began to soar above me ...

Not one to turn down an adventure, I excitedly signed up for my first paragliding excursion while living in Cape Town, South Africa. As we made the rigorous hike up Lion’s Head Mountain, the sun beating down on us, I chatted with my flight instructor to pass the time. Along the way, he mentioned that there were three different areas on the mountain from which we could make the jump—and it all depended on which way the winds were blowing.

At our first potential stop, we watched as two other gliders prepared their shoots. “The wind is blowing the wrong direction,” my instructor warned them.

“Nah. We’ll be fine,” one of the paragliders replied nonchalantly.

“They shouldn’t do it. It’s foolish,” my instructor muttered to me.

The paraglider began running toward the mountain’s edge, waiting for his shoot to catch the wind. As we held our breaths in anticipation, the wind caught the paraglide, shooting the glider into the air—before turning suddenly and crashing him back into the mountainside. With a gasp, we ran toward the precipice to see if we could spot him, but no luck. Anxious calls to his radio went unanswered.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, our calls were returned: He was alive.

Because the paraglider had a companion nearby and had no significant injuries, my instructor began to walk briskly ahead. “Let’s go!” he called out, still showing anger at the man’s decision to jump against his expert advice.

Still shook up from what I had witnessed, we reached the second landing. “The wind is not good,” he flatly stated. The third landing, sadly, offered no improvement. With my disappointment rising, we began our descent down the mountain, defeated by the wind that was supposed to send us soaring.

As we reached the first landing again, we greeted the man who just moments prior had crashed into the trees. His paraglide was destroyed, along with his pride. He sat there staring off into the distance in disappointment and as blood dripped from a still untended gash along his ear onto his shoulder below.

“Let’s go!” my instructor exclaimed once again. But this time, he meant to paraglide! The winds had changed, and it was safe to jump.

Or so he said.

As I looked back and forth from the bloody shirt to the paraglide set up for me, I paused. Would I, too, end up crashing into the mountainside at full force? I wondered. But for some reason, I felt no fear.

You see, time and again my instructor had proven himself true. He would not allow me to jump if the winds were too fierce. He changed course when the wind was blowing the wrong direction. He turned down multiple opportunities to jump because he knew it just wasn’t worth risking injury or death. His cautious, wise, and well-experienced approach gave me a great sense of confidence. I felt no fear because my instructor had proven himself to me.

So when we set off running toward the mountain edge, my heart was beating from sheer joyful exhilaration—not fear!

How clearly this story can apply to our own spiritual journey! Our faithful Instructor knows our weaknesses, and He knows our capabilities. He will never lead us on a path through which His strength cannot sustain us. As we journey with Him, and see Him prove Himself true time and again, our confidence in Him begins to soar.

Ellen White once wrote, “Our heavenly Father measures and weighs every trial before He permits it to come upon the believer. He considers the circumstances and the strength of the one who is to stand under the proving and test of God, and He never permits the temptations to be greater than the capacity of resistance… Christ never failed a believer in his hour of combat. The believer must claim the promise and meet the foe in the name of the Lord, and he will not know anything like failure” (Ellen G. White, Manuscript 6, 1889).

You might still be thinking that this paragliding adventure wasn’t the wisest thing for me to do … and you might be right. But one thing I know: God will never fail you. Seek moment by moment to trust implicitly in your Instructor and I guarantee you will not regret the journey.

(Edited by Anthony Lester for AmazingFacts.org )