When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.

Psalm 56:3

One spring day our family hiked the beautiful Yehudiya gorge. I've already told you about this place where a bubbling brook, rocks, trees and flowers greet the senses in an exhilarating way. Our youngest son, Michael was then ten years old, and had plenty of spunk to keep up with the climbs, descents, river crossings and jumps.

But when we arrived at the cliffs and pools, we had a crisis. I don't remember how it was that he cleared the first pool, probably he was helped by his brothers down the rope ladder. But by the time that we reached the second waterfall, everyone had jumped in and swam to the distant shore, leaving Michael and me up on the ledge. It was during Passover week and the water was fresh from snowy Mt. Hermon. Michael looked down through the icy waterfall and seeing only grips on the rock wall, lost his courage and refused to go on.

I yelled at Wayne who was waiting below, "Somebody get back over here and help me!" I read their lips over the roar of the waterfall, "We can't! The current is too strong!" Now I'm not a great swimmer. I too was gulping!

Michael (who tends to be dramatic) said, "I'm never EVER going to go down! I'm going to stay up here THE REST OF MY LIFE!" Then he sat down, hugged his knees, put his head on them and cried.

I sat down beside him. "But who's going to make supper for us up here?" I asked. "Look, where are we going to sleep?" Soon the miserable truth began to sink in that we had to go down. We couldn't go back, and this ledge was no place to remain!

"Tell you what, honey," I said. "I'm going to step over the edge and grab the grips. Then you get on my back, and hold on real tight to my neck. I promise you we'll get down just fine, and you keep holding on while we swim over to your Dad. Okay?"

We made it, but Michael remained traumatized and weak that day. He's braver now, last week (thirteen years later) he jumped off that cliff, into the water - no problem!

Often I have said to God, "I can't do this!" Then He seems to say to me, "But WE can!" And it requires clinging to Him, with absolute trust and dependency. There are times He uses a friend (he's often used my husband!) to carry me over rough places. We can actually BE God's hand, helping others. But in the end, our trust us in Him alone.

READ: Phillipians 4:13, Proverbs 3:5,6

Father, when I am afraid, I cry to You, but many times I am weak and don't even know it. Teach me to cling to You, for strength and courage. I take You at Your word, and I trust You. With You, I can do ALL things! Today I'm going "over the edge" on Your shoulders!