balloon boy – let’s not make haste!

So 6-year-old Falcon Heene was never in the home-made helium balloon that somehow accidentally lifted off 15,000 feet into the Colorado air early October.

Some of us were relieved. We had prayed through the CNN newscasts for hours, hoping that he hadn’t fell out of the aircraft his father built. But there were others who took one look at the silver flying saucer-like object when the story first broke, and thought, “Are you kidding me?” This skepticism may now be highly appropriate.

The Denver International Airport was temporarily closed down and National Guard helicopters searched for the boy’s body, but Falcon was found hiding in the attic. Days afterwards, the local county sheriff made plans to bring charges against Falcon’s parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene. Officials say the Heenes did it all for attention in hopes of fame and a television show.

There are so many lessons to be learned. But there is one biblical standpoint that sticks out sharply: No one can force a plan that is not in God’s plan for their life. In 2 Timothy 1:9, we find“…

God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace.”

How many times have any of us believed in a dream so wholeheartedly that when it didn’t come to pass, we tried to force it? Sometimes visions and hopes stir up so much excitement in our hearts that we know God had to have placed them there. Yet, there are many of us who year after year, wonder why the dream has not manifested into our realities.

The Heene’s family history reveal two parents who struggled to get acting gigs, and tried to get attention through storm chasing and YouTube videos. The height of their journey includes two appearances on the reality TV show “Wife Swap.” The couple had also been in talks with the producers for a separate reality show. And Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden believes the Heenes desperately thought the hoax would give them the spark they needed to seal a deal. If true, that spark has put them in a whole new struggle – fighting a possibility of felony charges, six years in prison and a $500,000 fine (The Chicago Tribune).

Sometimes we just have to go back to the drawing board, pray, reevaluate the origin of the idea and possibly let go of something that was more of a good idea than a “God idea.” Other times, it was in fact God speaking to us and His promise is still true. It’s just that we have to remain faithful until it’s our time. But if we try to pursue something despite God’s grace that’s not there to make it a success, we can lose ourselves and do anything to force it to happen. This choice disrupts our lives and causes unnecessary disappointment, or possibly as in the case of the Heene’s, jail time!

Proverbs 28:20 (AMP) A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich [at any cost] shall not go unpunished.