Our family hit the outdoors recently for an afternoon of zip lining. (That’s our sweet daughter in the photo above.) I’m not especially fond of heights, so fear tried to take a little foothold. The idea of stepping off the ledge, far above the tree tops, seemed a bit intimidating to say the least. I wasn’t familiar with this territory and it was uncomfortable putting faith in the metal clips and the lines, as well as the men who attached us to them. They literally were my lifeline.
My husband and our kids, on the other hand, were completely enthralled with the idea, ancy with excitement and eager anticipation for the reservation day to come. They couldn’t wait to start this new adventure. Their excitement somehow took me along in the flow. After all, when your seven year old, who was scared on a suspended bridge just days before, is involved, you have to keep a strong outlook, right? So for his sake, reservation day came and off they went with me following closely behind.
Have you ever felt like that in the spiritual? Maybe God is calling you to step out into something new, but fear has risen a bit at the thought of leaving the security and solid footing of your ledge. It’s new. It’s scary. You wonder if you can do it. You think of all the “what if’s.” You think of all the failure possibilities.
You know it’s God. You know you have love on your side, so you focus on love. You know you want to draw nearer to your God and that He only has great plans in store. After all, Joshua tells you that specifically. So, you focus on walking with your Father. The excitement of being His takes you along with the flow, and off you go, a little scared but still stepping out in faith.
Can I encourage you today to step out as He is guiding you? Perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18), so focus on that, His perfect love. Keep your mind locked in and set on His truths, not the lies of fear. Let our Savior’s perfect love cast the fear and all that comes with it (failure, non-provision, etc.) far aside as you step off the ledge and truly zip along in the spiritual.
When I stepped off the ledge for the first time, I had to stop thinking about the “what if’s”, set the fear aside, and simply “do it.” In fact, on the last zip line, which was far above the tree canopy, my mind wanted to know so badly “how far” above the ground we were, but even that simple thought was cast aside because the answer would have created more fear for certain. (It was 250′-300′ above the ground, by the way. I found that out AFTER zip lining.)
The experience, once I let go of the fear, was exhilarating. It was fun. Zip lining actually became comfortable, enough so that I was willing to step off ledges and zip on lines that were steeper, higher above the trees, and longer that same afternoon. It was like nothing I’d experienced before, and I was so thankful that fear didn’t stop me from this new experience.
Grab a hold of perfect love, friend. Keep it in center focus as you step out in faith. Go to those spiritual places He’s calling you to go to, those places that fear is trying determinedly to stop you from gracing. You’ll be amazed at the view, the exhilaration, and how comfortable you become in the new place. It’ll become a new normal, a step toward maturity for you as you run that race with the Lord. It’ll be freeing as you “Weeeeeee!” along in the center of your Father’s will, carried along by His perfect love. And, it’ll be right.
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