The Disappointing Parachute

Laura Booz: I remember this one day when I walked into gym class. I could tell it was not going to be the type of class where we would have to run laps and do sit ups, because in the middle of the gymnasium was spread this beautiful, colorful, silky parachute. And I was right! For the next thirty minutes, we had the time of our lives. 

Our teacher taught us how to hold onto the sides of the parachute and skip in a circle as it billowed and rolled in the air. We played cat and mouse, all change, sharks and lifeguards—what a gym class! This seven-year-old was in heaven.

With five minutes remaining, our teacher quieted us down for dramatic emphasis and the grand finale: “We will make a giant mushroom.” 

A reverent hush fell over the gymnasium . . . a giant mushroom. We all took the parachute and gripped the edge and on the gym teacher’s count: 

1. We raised the parachute height high and then lowered it to our waist. 
2. We raised it higher then lowered it to our knees. 
3. We raised it as high as we could and then snapped it down to the ground. 

As we squatted around the parachute, we looked up at this beautiful billowing mushroom.

And even though the gym teacher had told us to hold onto the hem, I couldn’t help myself. I backed up a few paces, and then I ran with all of my might and leaped into the air. I threw my heels back, raised my arms and landed on my knees with a thud on the gym floor. 

There was no springy top, no bounce. This was not a giant mushroom. I had been deceived. It had looked so promising, but it was just a flimsy, unsupportive, empty, silky, parachute . . . and I fell for it. 

Needless to say, getting me back on my feet and sending me to the nurse’s office with very sore knees was not my gym teacher’s plan for that parachute lesson. I wish that I could say that I never fell for the empty parachute again, but I have. And to be honest, sometimes I still make decisions like this. 

When something or someone seems to be so wonderful, so worthy of my trust, I just jump into it with all of my heart. I rely on my own perception, only to be disappointed. I follow through with my own understanding, only to be hurt. 

This is not God’s plan for His children. He doesn’t want us putting our trust in something that is empty inside. He wants us to put our hope in Him—to trust His character, to lean our full weight on His promises, and to obey His Word. 

Hi there. You’re listening to Expect Something Beautiful with Laura Booz. As I share today’s episode, I am thinking of those times when we are tempted by our own perception or our own understanding, when something seems shiny or promising and we’re just about to fall for it. I hope today’s episode encourages you to hold on to God’s Word and cling to His promises instead. Don’t fall for the empty parachute. 

I know I’m not the only one. I know humanity is prone to the empty parachute storyline, and Scripture is full of people who trusted their own understanding and suffered the consequences. I mean, think of Adam and Eve, King Nebuchadnezzar, King David, Peter. 

I recently read the empty parachute storyline in Judges 5, where we meet a woman whose son, Sisera, was the commander of Jabin’s army. Now, you may not be too familiar with this story, so it’s worth going back and reading Judges 4 and 5 to get acquainted with it. But let me just give it to you in a nutshell.

Sisera and his army had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Finally, God had mercy on His people, and He raised up Deborah, Barak, and Jael, and thousands of Israelite soldiers to go up against Sisera’s fierce army. 

Now, to the human eye, it did not look like the Israelites had a chance against those 900 iron chariots. But God worked a surprising miracle on their behalf and won the battle against their enemy. Afterward, the Israelites enjoyed forty years of rest from oppression.

But today, I want to focus in on Sisera’s mother. We don’t know her name, but we have a little glimpse of her in Judges 5. Here’s what it says, while the battle is raging, she is at home. As time passed and her son didn’t come home and he didn’t come home and he didn’t come home, it says this:

Out of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice:
"Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?"
Her wisest princesses answer,
indeed, she answers herself,
"Have they not found and divided the spoil?—
A womb or two for every man;
spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,
spoil of dyed materials embroidered,
two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?" (Judges 5:28–30)

Sisera’s mother and her friends were hoping for Sisera’s victory at the expense of an entire people group, at the expense of Israelite women and children who would have been mistreated and enslaved if he had won the battle. They were putting all of their hope in his power and prestige.

They believed that the rich and the advantaged, the arrogant, the persecutor, the warmonger, not to mention modern technology, would come out on top, would win the day. Their hope was in the battle’s outcome. Their hope was in horses and chariots, not in the Lord. They longed to see the people of God oppressed and pillaged, instead of longing to see God glorified. 

Sisera’s mother and her wisest princesses thought alike. They took one big leap into trusting Sisera. 

But were they right? How did things turn out for them? Well, Deborah and Barak recount the whole story, beginning with God having mercy on His people, and Deborah arises as a mother. And in their song, we hear them marching at the troops. We hear the torrent sweeping in. We hear Jael’s courage to strive and crush and shatter, and we hear Sisera falling dead. 

And this chilling scene from the home front. There are no thundering hoofbeats, no chariots roaring in, no heaps of dyed fabric flowing triumphantly from the hands of the soldiers to their wives and mothers at home. The silence is deafening, because Sisera has fallen. He would not get the prize for this battle. 

As Psalm 26 says, Sisera’s mother and her wisest princesses trusted in chariots and horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

This story is a sobering empty parachute story. It makes me pause and ask the Lord if I am trusting in anything that will ultimately let me down? Am I counting on something as empty as modern technology? Am I putting all of my hope in circumstances, connections, health care plans, good works, my family, my bank account, my politics? 

When I read these verses, I have to wonder. I wonder if I’m about to make a decision based on my own perception instead of basing it on the security of God’s Word? When I read this story, I wonder where in my life am I trusting in something that will ultimately let me down? 

I think about my conversation with other women around the kitchen table or on a hiking trail, maybe at a party or at a Bible study. I wonder how are we influencing one another? How are we interpreting current events for one another? What are we telling each other about the future? 

I want us to remind each other to trust in the great commander of the army of God, our Savior, Jesus, who is strong and mighty—who is faithful and true, who fought the battle against sin and death on our behalf and won. I want us to throw ourselves completely on God’s forgiveness. I want us to trust entirely on His grace through Christ. I know we’ll do that as we read and meditate on His Word, so that our desires and priorities line up with His. 

I so desperately want us to peer out of our windows and look for Jesus, expect Him to come home victorious. As 1 Peter 2, says with his beloved “chosen race, his royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession that we may proclaim his excellencies” forever and ever (v. 9). 

For those of us who might be tempted to take a running leap into something like an empty parachute, maybe we can hold on to King Solomon’s words in Proverbs 3:5–8, because he too was well acquainted with the parachute storyline. Here’s what he says,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones. (vv. 5–8)

So, with that, I say, “Go for it. Leap. Jump. Throw your full weight on Jesus.” He will never let you down. Instead, He will support you and give you a firm place to stand, just as He promised. 

Here’s one way that I’ve found to set my heart on things that last: it’s listening to Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. She keeps us grounded in God’s Word through her teaching and through practical interviews about issues we all face. You can listen for yourself at ReviveOurHearts.com. 

I hope to help you discern what really matters for eternity in the middle of everyday circumstances. I work to do that at my personal blog, which is LauraBooz.com. I hope you’ll check it out. 

Expect Something Beautiful is a production of Revive Our Hearts calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.