Perhaps you watched it. The tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon by Nik Wallenda on June 23, 2013. If you did, you were joined by 13 million viewers in the United States. I must say, the television in my home was turned on, but I couldn’t watch.

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I have a fear of heights. I can fly in a plane and even look out the window, but put me on the edge of a balcony and my stomach flips and flops until I’m forced to back away. And yes, even television programs can cause this same reaction.

So seeing this high wire dare devil walk on a 2-inch wide wire for 22 minutes and 54 seconds was not enjoyable for me and I found myself wandering through my home looking for things to do.

I could however hear what was going on. I heard Mr. Wallenda praise Jesus, pray to God for safety and for conditions to improve, and thank God for the beauty he saw. What a testimony to the 13 million viewers.

Mr. Wallenda’s influence that night was staggering. I thought of my own influence of others. I wondered how I do in my day-to-day life. Do those around me know that I am a believer because of my words? My actions? My countenance? Or do I have an influence at all?

I know that I have influence over some. I wouldn’t be a Bible study leader or even have followers on this blog if I didn’t. But how visible or audible is my influence?

The Apostle Paul was a great influencer as a Jewish leader and destroyer of those who were Jesus followers. But as he came to know Jesus, his influence grew astoundingly.

By teaching and preaching God’s truth of the Gospel, Paul was able to point others to God’s grace and forgiveness. Not only was his life changed, but he led others to that same changed lifestyle.

After Paul’s account of his conversion in Galatians 1, we see the influence he had on the early church. “And they praised God because of me.” (Galatians 1:24 – NIV)

This is a tough question to even type. Do others praise God because of me or am I the one they pray to God about?

I don’t know that I can answer any of these questions, but what I can do is my best. Give it my all. Be the woman of God that God wants me to be. In the end, it really will be up to God if I did what He called me to do.

Nik Wallenda’s story is written down in the book, Balance: A Story of Faith, Family and Life on the Line.[i] Take a look at Nik’s words the first page.

“God is my center.

God’s grace is the balancing pole that keeps me from falling into self-obsession and self-deception. Whatever I have achieved—and will ever achieve—is the result of my relationship with Him.

This book is a continuation of that relationship. I invoke His Holy Spirit in helping me understand my past. I need His insightful compassion to illuminate my story and the story of my remarkable family.

As God inspires me every hour of every day, I pray that the same inspiration informs every page of this book. I pray that the miracle of His limitless love touches me as I write, just as it touches you as you read.”

Now those are words of influence.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna

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