The moment in life when you have started something but have not yet reached your destination - hanging. Or a time when you feel you are getting nowhere - hanging. Or the place between receiving a promise and seeing the fulfillment of it - hanging, Hanging, HANGING!
We have taken a big leap with confidence at the start hoping to have achieved something but of course that was only our first step. There are many steps in between before we finally reach the end. Hanging is the frustration of having jumped into the unknown without any whatsoever clue when the last step will be.
That’s pretty much me at this point of my life – started my Graduate Diploma in Teaching at the beginning of the year full of faith that I’m back on track to being a teacher only to find now more than halfway through the programme another hurdle in my path, job hunting.
The branch
We took a huge leap into the air and managed to grab on to a seemingly strong branch – the type of branch which will bring us higher; closer to our dreams. Yet now we are hanging onto this seemingly strong branch but it feels like we are losing our grip and might fall anytime.
The ground underneath seems even farther away because we have taken such a huge leap of faith. The scare of the fall and the hurt it might incur keeps us hanging onto the branch with every ounce of strength we have.
At this time, we begin to question our dreams and the initial faith we had that gave us such courage to jump. Perhaps we should have just stayed put and save ourselves all this trouble and uncertainties.
If I never went to study to be a teacher, I won't be going through the rejections of job applications to be a teacher.
The leap
If we had not taken that leap, we won't need to struggle to hold onto the branch and worry about falling. While that is true, if we did not take that leap, we would also have gone nowhere. If there was no leap, there won't be a drop which means there will also be no progress. No forward movement, no development, nothing!
The leap is what propels us into our future. Unlike a mere step, a leap requires total buy in to the situation. The leap needs us to put our energy into it. The leap is our full commitment to go ahead with nothing holding us back.
Our entire body coordinates together as we take a leap forward - our eyes focused on where we will leap, our hands swinging for momentum, our knees bent pushing forward as our whole body takes off from the ground with nothing holding us back.
Studying Graduate Diploma was my leap. As a family, we invested money into it. We committed time to it. It was my commitment to doing my best in my studies and becoming a teacher.
The momentum
Like leaping and hanging onto a monkey bar, I realised that when we take our first leap with all our energy focused on it, we have gotten a movement going – momentum. It is sustaining this initial movement that will determine our success in reaching the end.
When we keep this momentum going, the next bar is easily within reach. However, when we stop to ponder, it kills the momentum. This pause makes us lose energy accumulated from the beginning. The sudden stop when we were supposed to continue moving results in inertia.
This is when we find ourselves hanging with our energy depleting as we go against the momentum. Funnily enough, all we needed to move ahead was to just keep going. While it might seem like much energy is needed to move ahead, it is worth noting that we only needed one leap at the beginning.
We don’t leap from bar to bar after our initial leap at the beginning. After that first, it was really just going with the momentum we have build. It still requires lots of effort, but when we rely on the momentum we have, it does make it easier.
I’m not going to second guess myself now that I’ve already made my first leap into becoming a teacher. I’ll just swing on from bar to bar with the dreams I have because that initial faith I had to leap is already gaining momentum as I did my assignments and went for my teaching experiences.
God has our back
While it might feel like I’m hanging waiting for a job application to be accepted at the moment, I’m going to continue advancing forward with my applications till I finally hear good news from one.
Michael W. Smith in his song Waymaker clearly depicts what God is doing in our moments of hanging,
Even when I don't see it, You're working
Even when I can't feel it, You're working
You never stop, You never stop working
God never stops working even when we stop and feel that He has stopped working. May we take comfort in knowing He is working for us all the time even if we don’t see and feel it, and especially when we are hanging. We can keep going and even if we do fall from hanging, it’ll all be fine.
After all, I’m claiming the promises God has for me in Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 11, that the plans God have for me are plans to prosper me and not too harm me, plans to give me the future I hope for. Hanging, swinging or falling, God has our back, so what more could we ask for.
Esther Koh is a stay-at-home mum living in Wellington with her husband and two sons. She loves people and has a passion for helping others find their purpose for living.
Esther Koh’s previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/esther-koh.html