We took my grandson to a children’s birthday party a couple of weeks ago at ‘Jump In’ (formerly ‘Bounce’). Now, for the uninitiated, this is a massive warehouse type place (no windows) with trampolines set into the floor and other bouncy surfaces from which children and adults can propel themselves and run about. It’s quite noisy as you can imagine. The children get very excited, especially about the ‘free’ slip free socks they are given to wear and can take home afterwards (well, who else would want their sweaty grubby hand me downs?).
So lots of bouncing happened and was followed by pizza, cake and fluorescent ‘slushy’ drinks – so glad the food came after!!! Grandson particularly enjoyed the pit in which children stood on a pad in a circle, in the middle of which were two padded rotating arms – one at ankle height and the other at child shoulder height. Children were supposed to either jump over or duck under the arms as they went round to avoid being knocked off their feet.
It is very funny to watch – may I hasten to add a quick explanation that the whole ‘pit’ is a soft play surface so no children are harmed in the making of this entertainment! It starts off gentle and slow. Children jump over the approaching bar, then have time to duck under the next one. But, as it begins to speed up, it gets harder to keep on your feet. When you are in a rhythm, it’s do-able but once you fall (or are pushed down), by the time you get to your feet, the next paddle is there swiping you off your feet again!
This is so much like our lives. The children had to be measured before they could enter the pit to make sure they could cope physically with the obstacles. In the Christian life, God wont send anything we can’t handle. We may think we can handle things that come our way, and for a while we do. We may even get a bit over confident and complacent – then whop! Something unexpected hits us – a health diagnosis, redundancy, relationship split, bereavement – and we’re floored for a while.
It may even be that we haven’t got over that wallop when another blow comes. What we need is a rhythm, a routine, steadfast and sure – keep our eyes and focus on Jesus, pray to him – call out for strength and help, read our instruction manual, the Bible, listen to the encouragement of our Christian friends and mentors looking on and be ready to do the same for others we meet along the way who are going through similar experiences.
Then we will be able to say, like Paul (2 Timothy 4:7), “ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”