High Wire of Faith

Friday night I, like so many others, watched Nik Wallenda cross directly over Niagara Falls on a tightrope. It was an awe-inspiring sight: suspended directly over the falls, buffeted by the winds and mist, he took one unswerving step at a time. I have to say, even though he was (reluctantly) wearing a safety-harness, it was a very tense viewing experience that ended with a wave of exhilaration.

I didn’t know very much about Nik Wallenda when I decided to tune in to this event. I knew that he came from a family of daredevils and that he was an accomplished tightrope walker, but that was about it. I didn’t know that he was a fervent Christian, or that he would be praising the Lord all the way across the rope.

I certainly didn’t know I’d wake up the next day, and in the days following, thinking of his high wire walk as a metaphor for faith.

Authentic faith really is like this. You step out on a flimsy-looking platform and cross over perilous waters. There are always forces trying to knock you off. You strive to remain fully present in the moment. You trust in the Lord to carry you through.

It is a striving after dreams, a longing to reach the other side and, sometimes, the fulfillment of things you’ve hoped for over many long years. It’s possible you’ll fall. It’s possible you won’t succeed. But in the end, if you try and strive and believe, and you trust in God, you will make it across. Like Nik Wallenda, you are also not alone: God is not jealous or angry or resentful if you have a safety-line of people other than Him upholding you in your journey. We should not be ashamed because there are those alongside us willing to catch us if we fall.

Before making the crossing, Nik Wallenda was asked what gave him the confidence to attempt such a feat. He replied simply, “The righteousness of God in Christ.” So, too, we can have confidence on our faith journeys – and in all aspects of our lives – in the One Who loves and saves us.