Stay on Guard

     The next incident of falling I can remember is when I around 27 years old. We were attending a large church and I was working on our first women’s retreat. I agreed to be in a skit at the end of service to encourage attendance. The plan was for me to sneak out of the choir during invitational prayer and then come back in for the skit. So, during prayer all was going as planned until I took my second step out of the choir loft and in a split second, my foot slipped off the step, my body went crashing to the ground taking a few chairs down with me! This did not happen quietly; it was a loud bang that echoed through the sanctuary. It was such a shocking and unexpected loud noise during a quiet prayer time that every head popped up like puppets on one string, and every pair of eyes opened to find the source of the distraction. As soon as I fell, I pulled myself up and sat on the step, bowed my head, and actively started praying that God would make me invisible. As soon as I felt the heads go back to their praying positions, I gathered my books which had flown through the air about two step above me and found my shoes which leaped off my feet and bounced two steps below me. I finally made it out of the sanctuary, swallowed my pride and performed the skit as planned. Dwayne sang in the choir too and knew something had happened but could not see me since I was directly to him left (Dwayne: I never raised my head). So, when people told him that I had fallen asleep and fell out of my choir chair, he believed them! (Dwayne again: I sure did!) (What is the editor freedom here! You’re probably going to see that several times while I write about my falling adventures! lol)
     Have you ever been going along feeling pretty good about your Christian walk and out of nowhere you take a fall and wonder where that came from? Was it in front of others? I know I have been feeling pretty good after a great church service or a quiet time and then out of nowhere I jump down someone's throat! Of course when I do something stupid like this, it is usually in front of others which only creates a situation where I have to eat some public crow! The core issue is we can get lackadaisical when things are going well. We let down our guard and we think our flesh is sitting nicely in the corner. As we are not paying attention, our flesh can leap out of the corner and start ranting and raving before we can figure out what is happening.
      Have you let down your guard down against sin in your life? Have you fallen? Have you crashed in front of others? Pick yourself up, gather your senses, swallow your pride, and continue your plan. Most importantly, stay on guard!

Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute,

and love without stopping.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14