Water Falling

I've been doing alot of thinking about what it means to be a "safe" person and what it means to be a risk-taker. My sister nailed it: you can't be a safe risk-taker. You must make a choice. Which one am I?

When I was in Uganda last year, my team took a weekend break at this place called Sipi Falls. It was gorgeous and relaxing. There were several waterfalls on the mountain, and, from a distance, the apparent serenity of the area immediately made one's shoulders relax and one's mind forget all the impending deadlines. However, when you hiked down to the falls and got in the water, the force was amazing. The waterfall, although pouring over a 300 foot drop, was relatively small. The stinging waterdrops and the cool air that hit you were refreshing but exhausting. Caution was necessary if only to protect one's eyes and skin. The rocks were slippery, and the shattering drops were deafening. The water was surrounded by tropical plants that were at least knee high. The rocks sparkled with drops, their faces carved and changed by the consistent power of water and wind. The flowers edging the pool brilliantly outshone those further away. And those of us in the water felt recklessly alive....

Later that day, I realized something. The waterfall is God. From a distance, He seems safe, serene, calm.......sometimes almost boring. However, if you risk knowing Him, being in Him and of Him, He is anything but safe. He is the meeting point of the water and the rocks. My pride and my will are shattered. His plan becomes my only option because I cannot stop Him from working in me anymore than I can stop the water from falling over the edge of the cliff. Sometimes it's painful because my natural tendency is to resist change. But the closer I am to being underneath the waterfall, the more brilliant it becomes. It is not a safe place to be. It never will be, but it is the most refreshing and most fruitful place. I fear living a useless, "safe" life. So my prayer for myself is that I will be willing to live my life where the water meets the rocks.

"......Aslan safe? He's not safe, but He is good......"

Chronicles of Narnia;
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
C.S. Lewis