Did you know that when your parachute breaks, you can still end up in the hospital even if your jumping partner saves you mid-air?
I was in Target and leafed through a survival book, landing on what happens if your parachute fails to open.
What you’re supposed to do is loop your arms (up to your elbows) through your jumping partner’s parachute chest straps, and then hold onto your own parachute chest straps. Yet even if you successfully do that, when your partner deploys his parachute, the force will most likely break your arms or take them off their sockets.
Now the landing. If you land on land, you will most likely break your legs as well. If the parachute is big, you’re lucky to break only one leg. There’s a better chance of not breaking anything else if you land in water. But your partner needs to move QUICKLY: disengage you and himself from the parachute and swim both of you to shore before the parachute fills up with water. You can only hope to stay afloat and survive. Broken arms, remember?
It’s like a case of one step forward, a gazillion steps back.
Do you ever feel this way?
As if you gained some traction over a problem, only to face even more problems. They just keep coming at you one right after the other. You can only hope to stay afloat, to keep your head above the water, and wait for salvation.
There’s more hope that that!
The Bible is full of the promises of God’s salvation and deliverance. He lends us His strength (Philippians 4:13). He delivers us (Psalm 34:17-19). He understands our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14-16). He blesses our perseverance (James 1:12). He fights for us (Exodus 14:14).
Sometimes our parachutes fail, but when our jumping partner is Jesus, we don’t have to worry. Life may bruise us, break our bones, and knock us off our feet. But we have hope. We have victory.
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV).
Linking up with Coffee For Your Heart and Wholehearted Wednesday.
Sometimes that is daily! I am so thankful for a God who sees all and takes care of me!
Amen, Sarah. Me too, especially when I can’t take care of myself or feel like making a mess out of everything 🙂
Oh, yes, I’ve had a few one step forward, a gazillion steps backward experiences. But I never hope to be free falling from the sky in the circumstances you describe! You have shared some incredible Scripture verses and I love your image with the verse from James. Thanks for visiting my blog, neighbor! BTW your sponsor child, Joshua, is a cutie.
Sherrey, the closest I came to a parachute was a calm parasailing. Free falling anywhere gives me the shivers 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and I agree, Joshua’s a cutie and he’s kind too.
Thanks for sharing. I’ve known the “one thing after the next” situation for some time now. I recently saw the movie Gravity and your story reminded me of that movie, how Sandra Bullock’s character kept surviving only to find one more thing to contend with.
Thanks for stopping by Janene. I haven’t seen Gravity, but it’s on my list of movies to watch!