The Comfortable Middle

The Comfortable Middle

My brother and I used to play “hot lava” when we were kids. The furniture was safe, but the floor was hot lava that would surely kill you if you even brushed your toe against its surface. We’d take risks jumping from the couch to the chair and with much trepidation, step over onto the coffee table. It was a great thrill to play, and we certainly developed coordination and imagination in the process. But it was the beginning of the development of something else: the sense that life was like living on a tightrope surrounded by hot lava.

Bringing this sense into my understanding of God, for many years I felt as if I were walking that tightrope, hoping not to lose balance. Balance was only achieved by sticking to the tight middle, staying absolutely to the line.

At first, I stuck to the middle for fear of the lava below. I thought if I messed up, there was no hope. After I began to understand grace and forgiveness, there was then a net of our Savior’s love and forgiveness placed below me in the metaphor. Walking a tightrope causes tremendous anxiety and requires an amazing amount of focus and discipline. It’s an uncomfortable middle you must stay within. You can do it for awhile, but it’s not a sustainable way to live. There’s very little room for creativity or freedom of movement. That’s why we gaze, open-mouthed when we see it performed in the circus and the acrobats make it look as if they were on the floor.

I walked the tightrope for years. Every thought, every decision was balanced on that line. I couldn’t move for fear of losing balance one way or the other. But then I began to understand grace more deeply and the metaphor began to change again. I began to see balance as staying within the safety of our God. This is the comfortable middle.

The world is not a safe place, but we are safe within his protection. It’s more than a safety net under a rope, but a warm, familial safety of home. I think of Psalm 91 and the imagery of being underneath the wings of God in a dangerous world. Yes, there’s sin and danger out there, but we’re not left alone on a high wire with a safety net. We are under the wings of God, safe from what’s “out there.” We are in the “comfortable middle.” Not out of balance, but warm and at peace with our God, in the center of his love and grace.

Psalm 91:1 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Psalm 91:3-4 “Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge.”

Within this environment, life becomes full of freedom and peace. Creativity is released. Nobody is watching us, waiting for us to fall, but we have a father who is right there, helping us through the process. In this way, staying close is the challenge, not staying balanced. We need to stay under his wings, depending on him for our life—not on ourselves and our own ability.

Walk in the comfortable middle, and experience peace.

Mindy Hirst