Lessons from a Ladder

Recently, my husband traveled to another town and was gone for a couple days.  It seems like we always have some type of excitement when Daddy is gone.  The first day that he was gone, the power was off several times throughout the day.  I waited for about thirty minutes each time before I went outside to fire up the generator.  Sometimes, it is only off for a few minutes; other times, it is off for hours.  

One afternoon while he was gone, the boys had been playing outside.  They needed to borrow some of Dad’s tools for the project that they were doing.  When it was time to come inside, they put the tools away and locked the door. When Danny was bringing the keys inside, he was throwing them up in the air as he went. He must have thrown them quite high because he sheepishly came in and told me that he threw the keys up and that they had landed on the roof of the carport. The eave of the carport is about ten feet high.  Danny said, “How will we ever get them down, Mom? I’m going to be in big trouble with Dad!”  I was right in the middle of fixing supper.  I told him to wait a few minutes, and I would come out to see what we could do.

Climbing ladders is not my favorite thing, but I got some practice in that day. We have an eight-foot folding ladder.  I had Danny help me get the ladder.  (I am afraid of heights, which might have something to do with falling from a zip line three times in the same day once upon a time, but that is another story!) On the first try, I got to the top of the ladder, and it was too close to the edge of the carport to see anything. So, I got down, moved the ladder, and tried it again. I still could not see the keys. So, I moved the ladder out into the yard, climbed the ladder, and spotted the keys. They had landed just behind the only tree that is next to the carport.  It is some type of evergreen tree with heavy branches. On the next attempt, I climbed the ladder as I dodged tree branches only to discover that I was not in the right spot. So, I got down, moved the ladder, and tried it again. I finally got the keys!

Later, I got to thinking about climbing that ladder.  It is a picture of living by faith.  It is easy to sing about living by faith, but actually doing it is another story.  The Bible says in Galatians 2:20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

To get to the top of the ladder, one must go forward.  My son was down on the ground watching me.  He had no idea that it scared me to climb that ladder.  I could have just waited for someone else to get the keys down the next day, but it was an urgent matter to him.  I had to go forward.  Moses would not have parted the Red Sea if he had not obeyed God’s instructions.  (Exodus 14)  He wanted God to tell the people to go forward, but God told Moses to just do what He had told him to do.  

What “ladder” are you facing today?  

Until next week, keep your sunny side up!