Anyone Up There?
A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day when heaccidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down hegrabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down andto his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than athousand feet. He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was noway for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack beganyelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lowera rope or something.
"HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? HELP!"
He yelled for hours, but no one heard him. He was about to give up whenhe heard a voice.
"Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!"
"I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?"
"Yes, but . . . Who are you, and where are you?"
"I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere."
"The Lord? You mean, GOD?"
"That's Me."
"God, please help me! I promise if You'll get me down from here, I'llstop sinning. I'll be a really good person. I'll serve You for the restof my life."
"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's just get you down from there; then wecan talk. Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully."
"I'll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do."
"Okay. Let go of the branch."
"What?"
"I said, let go of the branch.. Just trust Me. Let go."
There was a long silence. Finally Jack yelled,
"HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?"
Have you ever felt like Jack? We say that we want to know the will ofGod, but when we find out what it is, we can't handle it. It sounds tooscary, too difficult. We decide to look elsewhere. When He says, "Let goof the things that stand between you and Me, and trust Me with yourlife. It sounds pretty scary, but when we let go, we find freedom andsafety in His hands."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Sarah M., Age 17 --- Washington