I bought my seven-year-old a skateboard for Christmas. At first, his Mom was not really a big fan of the idea. Still, I noticed he needed a fun sport that would be all his own. Sure, he has a bike and even roller skates, but they just never seemed to sync with him or have enough personality for him; he is all about personality.
So there we were on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas for all you Americans), fully suited up with helmet, knee and elbow pads, and all the right gear. We headed over to his school parking lot, knowing it would be empty. We sat the board down while I explained the basics behind it; needing to find balance, needing to get the proper footing, and needing to learn to push and coast at the same time.
He looked up, all excited, yet frozen.
“What if I fall?” He said with serious seven-year-old concern.
My answer was without pause, “You will fall. Don’t doubt it.”
“But I don’t want to fall! It will hurt. And if I get hurt, Mommy will take my skateboard away!” He protested.
“It will hurt,” I assured him. “But I think your worry is more about you than your Mommy.”
“But can’t I get really hurt bad doing this?” His protest continued.
“Look,” I said, “Let me explain this to you. You are going to fall, more than once. It is going to hurt. Falling off a moving board is a very serious business. But if you want to skateboard that is what it is going to take. If you don’t want to fall, if you don’t want to hurt, we can go home. The skateboard can just be a cool toy in your room that you never really use, and that is totally ok. But if we stay, expect to fall and to fall hard; just know, I’ll be here to pick you up and if need be carry you home.”
I watched him climb on, just one foot at a time. He wobbled all over. He tripped and caught himself quickly using one foot on the ground to steady himself. Finally finding some balance, he was ready. He was scared but pushed off, and of course, fell right off! That is what happens when you’re seven and leap on a moving board with wheels! Having been spared by his knee pads he got back up and more cautiously tried again. He tripped, stumbled, fell off, but not down, and finally starting to understand how balance worked on a rolling board and where his feet go.
Soon he was gliding through the parking lot. Then he was just practicing balancing, wiggling all over the board to test its limits and his ability to stay on it. Before long he was actually learning to turn by leaning into the turn with the board and having a blast. He was King of the Parking Lot!
Then he fell. He fell hard. He fell facedown. The board came right out from underneath him and this time he did not catch himself. He hit the hard, cold payment and did not get up. I ran over and asked him if he was ok, but he could not answer. The wind had been knocked right out of him and he laid there stunned, still not sure how it happened. It took him a moment to catch his breath and to stand on his own. But when he did, he realized something, and that was that falling off a board hard, and in fast motion, really hurts; but not nearly as much as he expected! He could get up. He could get back on. So he did! And he once again, with even more confidence and with less fear, was the King of the Parking Lot!
That is sort of how faith works. Belief in God on any level at all works like this: You are excited. You think it is the greatest thing in the world. You trip. You stumble. You get scared. Sometimes you want to give up and go home. But, at the end of the day, it is always all about needing to find balance, needing to get the proper footing, and needing to learn to push and coast at the same time. The irony of faith is you can’t move if you don’t push forward, but once in motion you need to trust that motion and glide with it and resist the temptation to put your foot down and control everything. Faith is about getting yourself balanced with your feet in the right position to keep you rolling forward, trusting that God is there to steady you when needed.
Will you fall? You will fall. Don’t doubt it. It will hurt; I promise! Yet, if we stay, rolling in faith, and expect to fall and to fall hard; just know, God will be there to pick you up; and if need be carry you home.
Rolling with God is like being seven and leaping on a board with wheels. Falling off is as much the lesson as gliding around thinking you’re the King of the Lot. Falling makes us learn to trust in the only One who brings balance to our life.
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25)
Then he fell. He fell hard. He fell facedown. The board came right out from underneath him and this time he did not catch himself. He hit the hard, cold payment and did not get up. I ran over and asked him if he was ok, but he could not answer. The wind had been knocked right out of him and he laid there stunned, still not sure how it happened. It took him a moment to catch his breath and to stand on his own. But when he did, he realized something, and that was that falling off a board hard, and in fast motion, really hurts; but not nearly as much as he expected! He could get up. He could get back on. So he did! And he once again, with even more confidence and with less fear, was the King of the Parking Lot!
