Waterfall Moments

Have you ever had a “waterfall moment” in life? Where you find yourself close to an edge, teetering on a breaking point, wondering what frustration or trial will push you over that edge and cause you to freefall to the depths below?

These moments cause you to lose your balance and fall into despair. Thoughts race through your head as time slows to a standstill, and you wonder if you are going to make it out alive with no damage done.

You hit rock bottom and barely manage to come up out of the water surrounding you, gasping for breath and praying for a lifeline to come and save you as quickly as possible. The pain is excruciating. The heartbreak is detrimental. You cry out to God from the depths of your soul, saying, “God, please save me. I can’t make it out of this on my own.”

Have you ever felt that way?

 

 

On February 27, 2016, this was my reality. Except for me, I was literally falling down the face of a 50 feet waterfall, my life flashing before my eyes.

It started like any other day. I was living the dream in Hawaii, playing beach volleyball for the University of Hawaii in my senior season. That morning, I trained with some of my teammates and then headed off to the Ka’au Crater Trail hike with a group of my friends. I had never done this hike before, but I heard it was beautiful, so I was excited for what was to come.

About an hour in, we came to the top of this waterfall, and I decided to look over the edge. Unfortunately, I slipped and began my freefall to the bottom, where I landed on the rocks around the basin of the waterfall.

During the forty minutes that I had to wait for a helicopter to come carry me out, God showed up in miraculous ways. A “random” hiker who was best friends with the air evacuation crew was passing by and texted them our exact location so they could get there quicker. Additionally, a large group of my friends from the church I was currently going to just so happened to show up—they just so happened to be on the same hike on the same day at the exact same time. They instantly started praying for me and gave me the comfort I needed in that moment.

Once at the hospital, I found out I had ten broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and a fractured scapula. I had surgery a few days later to put in plates to repair my ribs. Needless to say, I was out for my entire senior season. I had worked so hard to be on the top team for this last season, and all my plans were shattered before me.

Although there was so much devastation, I call this day both the best and worst day of my life. In the months that followed, I was able to rest in the Lord and lean on Him for all the strength I needed. He showed me through Psalm 73 that volleyball was an idol in my life, and it was time to start putting Him first instead of my sport. He gave me the ability to recover and to play volleyball again, and now I realize that my ability to play this sport comes from Him—not anything that I do or have done.

When we face these “waterfall moments” in our lives, we have two choices: We can either figure things out on our own, or we can cry out to God and ask Him for help. He desires a deep and meaningful relationship with all of us, and He can pull us from the deep to walk in joy again. When we spend time praying, reading His Word, and fellowshipping with other believers, He will transform our lives. He will plant a growing seed in our hearts that creates a desire to share the love He has shown us.

We will rise up from heartbreak and be able to declare what the psalmist did in Psalm 73: “I will tell of all your deeds!”

But as for me, it is good to be near God.
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
    I will tell of all your deeds. -Psalm 73:28

 

This is a guest post from our friend, Heather Friesen. Heather loves to share her story of tragedy, healing, and redemption to encourage others that there is a God who loves us all and desires a deep, meaningful relationship with us.