As my parents live very near Braintree in Essex I was drawn to a news article this past week from this little town. A fire broke out in a flat in the town centre. The occupant was at home at the time but the only way he could escape was out the window. However, the flat was on the second floor. When alerted to the situation a quick thinking bus driver reversed his vehicle to just below the window so the man could jump out of the window, although he still had to make a 10 foot jump onto the roof of the bus. What’s more the poor man was in the shower at the time and so had no clothes on when he made his escape. Thankfully, the bus driver gave him his jacket to cover up until he could be properly kitted out.
This poor man, his only way to live was to make himself extremely vulnerable, not just by jumping 10ft out of a window onto the top of a bus but doing this with no clothes on!
It started me thinking about this idea of being vulnerable. You know the only way to live life in its fullness is to make ourselves vulnerable before God. Vulnerability means to be exposed, or to not be guarded. That is hard to do in a world where we feel like we have to cover ourselves at every angle.
Vulnerability is difficult. It requires a great deal of humility and trust especially when we face challenges that are more personal than we are comfortable sharing. Weaknesses can be hard to admit, and I think this is especially true when it comes to talking with God.
The more guarded and cautious we are to what God wants for us, the more pain has to take place. Whereas, the more vulnerable we are to his leading – his guidance, the more doors we allow to open more easily. I sometimes wish I had remembered more often how faithful my God has always been to me, and I wish I had allowed myself to be more vulnerable to his leading. I think I would have seen some amazing miracles a whole lot sooner.
Often the times when we approach God with vulnerability are those times when we are the most broken. That is not to say our prayers are not always sincere, but there is a stronger, more heartfelt longing for God and His Word when we reach breaking points in our lives.
Maybe we’re only vulnerable before God when we are truly open to what He will do in our lives. Giving our struggles up to God usually means we’re in for some big changes or some big challenges. Maybe it takes getting us to a breaking point before we’re finally willing to let go of the plans we have for our lives and follow God’s call to something new. But I truly believe that when we do that we open ourselves to so many wonderful and exciting possibilities.
So perhaps as we enter this Lenten period we might want to consider giving up our pride and fear and instead taking up being more vulnerable before God and see how much fuller our lives can be. But unlike the man in the fire, we don't need to take our clothes off to do this!
God Bless.
Captain Clare