Walking Across the Wire.

Eyes glued to the TV screen. Heart pounding. Licking dry lips. Sweating hands and feet. Getting up and leaving the room to take a break from watching. Coming and sitting back down to watch some more. Repeat.

This was me tonight as I watched daredevil Nik Wallenda walk across a wire over Niagra Falls, a feat that had not been accomplished. I was so scared for him, so afraid he would slip and fall. Every step he took was a leap of faith that he would make it across safely. 

I myself am not terribly afraid of heights. If I am at the top of a 100 story building looking down over the city, I am not afraid of how high I am. However, if I am very high up with nothing stable under my feet, then yes, I get scared. Watching someone else go through something like that also gives me sweaty palms and shaky breathing. My mom is even worse than me; heights are her worst fear. Our family will go on ferris wheel rides at an amusement park, and she will be clutching the seat for her life and sitting as close to the middle as she possibly can. I looked over her way at one point (because we were all watching this together in my dad's office/man cave), and she looked terrified for Nik. I can't say much, because I was, as well. 

Through the freezing mist and falling water splashing all over his face and body (and the rope), he never wavered in his step. He was talking on air a lot of the way, and he seemed incredibly calm and fully concentrating on what he was doing, even though he was answering all these questions for the reporters. Finally, after a little over 25 minutes, he took the last few steps, and made it across! People cheered as he broke a record and achieved a feat never done until tonight. After getting off, he was asked by the Canadian border patrol for his passport. Faking a realization that he left it on the other side, he pulled it out of his pocket and gave it to them. One of them asked, "What is your purpose here in Canada?" 

This was his answer: "To inspire people around the world!"

I got goosebumps after that. All I could think was, "WOW." 

Funny, earlier this evening, I got out of the house again and went to Wilson Park with a friend after getting some Starbucks coffee. We talked, and I asked this friend what their biggest goal in life was. They said that they wanted to glorify God in everything they did, in whatever they did. I told them that besides that, mine was to give people hope, and to lead them to a relationship with Christ in which they could experience the hope, freedom, and love that I have in my own relationship with Christ. 

After watching this man fulfill his dream to perform this extremely terrifying stunt, I realize that he had also fulfilled the other part of his dream: to inspire others with what he had accomplished. He at least had inspired one young woman . . . me. It had taken him years of training, years of dedication and (I'm sure) a lot of tumbles to accomplish this amazing feat. It's convicting to me, because I want to inspire others and change the world. I have to ask myself, "What am I doing to inspire others? What am I doing to help change the world and further the kingdom of God here on earth?"

Nik's father and wife gave praise to him for his perseverance and endurance through the years and during his walk across Niagra Falls. They were so proud of him and so glad he was safe and sound!

It reminds me of the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, when the three servants had been given a certain number of talents "according to his ability". The first two servants added to the gifts that they had been given, and had given it all back to their master. The master said to them both, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." Nik Wallenda disciplined himself with the talent he had been given, and he has definitely used it to inspire others. 

This also reminds me of Hebrews 12:1-2, which says, 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

I have huge dreams myself. I want to write my own music and go into a women's ministry to impact younger people and point them to Christ. I want to get married and start my own family and make my own home someday in the hopes that I can glorify God with all of it and make an impact on others because of it. Am I training myself to someday fulfill those dreams and inspire others with those dreams? 

May I be a tool that God uses to inspire others to follow their dreams to glorify God and further His kingdom, and may I persevere through the race that I have started on in being a follower of Christ. May I stand before my Father in heaven to one day hear Him say those sweet words: "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master"!