knife's edge

At the close of a permaculture class I went to a few years ago we had a gift exchange where we explained to the person who got your gift why we had chosen that gift to give away. I had given away a knife and my explanation was that the path of life was very narrow - like a knife's edge - and the only way we can stay on the path is to have a love for the truth that will keep our eyes always on what is true. I had gotten this thought from Rick Joyner's book, THE CALL, where he relates a prophetic encounter with Jesus where Jesus tells him that the path of life is a narrow one that has deep ditches on both sides of it. He told Rick that he had spent too much time in one or the other of the ditches and it was now time to learn how to stay out of the ditches and on the path. The only way to stay on the path, Jesus told him, was by keeping his eyes on Him.

The other day I heard a piece on National Public Radio describing the life and work of a photo journalist who had recently been killed, I believe in the Libyan uprising. In an interview done before his death this journalist was asked how he could do his work in such dangerous settings (he had a reputation for doing his work in some of the most dangerous "hotspots" around the world). His answer was that as long as he kept his eyes looking through the lens of his camara, i.e. on doing his job, he wasn't overcome or paralyzed by fear. This, to me, was another way of saying what Jesus said to Rick. Like Peter walking on the water in the middle of a storm on the lake, as soon as we take our eyes off Jesus and begin to look at the wind and the waves, we're sunk!

I have just begun a new job that I am convinced is a gift from God. The odd thing about it is that it involves operating farm machinery, which I do not have a good track record with. Years ago I had worked on my brother-in-law's farm and had had a couple accidents which convinced me I was not cut out to work with heavy machinery. But now, here I am, in a job I'm convinced I'm supposed to have, doing the very thing I thought I was supposed to avoid!

The second day on the job a semi-truck was needing to be loaded with a product that was going to be applied on a field down the road. My supervisor had to be away at the time and it was up to me and another fellow to do the loading. Well, even though it's not that complicated to operate a front-end loader, because I was still becoming familiar with the machine I was not exactly smooth in my operation. It was not long before I banged the side of the dump part of the truck and got yelled at by the truck driver. Fortunately God gave me the wisdom to just park the loader then and there and let the other fellow do the rest of the loading. As it turned out, the truck driver knew how to operate the loader so he ended up helping to load his own truck, which he seemed happy to do!

At the time all this was happening I was getting confused as to why this wonderful job that God had provided was putting me in situations that I didn't think I should be in. I was learning an important lesson that I needed to learn: to admit - and to stop! - when I was not comfortable operating a machine (as a guy, it's tempting to do the macho thing and think, "oh, I can do this!"). But as I've continued to reflect on the situation I'm seeing something even more important.

It is my growing conviction that we are entering a time of ever-increasing peril and danger, on every level. The Scriptures warn us very clearly about this time. In Hebrews we are told that everything that can be shaken will be shaken, so that only what has its foundation in God will be left standing. Jesus put it about as bluntly as he could when he told his disciples that without him they could do nothing. I am now beginning every day with a prayer that says, in essence, "Daddy, help me! Give me the wisdom to work safely and not do anything stupid!" I find great peace in knowing that he hears and honors such prayers, for he has promised to give grace to the humble, but to oppose the proud.

Maybe it's an overstatement to say that the path of life is as narrow as a knife's edge. But maybe not. Jesus did seem to set ridiculously high standards ("Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect", or, "Take up your cross daily and follow me"). But maybe the whole intent of his perfect standard is to get us to fall on that knife's edge, have it slice through our soul and spirit, in order to expose every thought and intent of the heart. Somewhere in the Psalms I know that there is a promise for those who hang in there with God, that He will bring them out into a "broad place". Now that would be a nice place.