On my daughter’s return from the mountain hike I wrote about in last week’s post, she sent me these pictures.
As you can see, her venture outside her usual world had amazing
returns. Even though she faced high winds at the top of the 6500-foot peak, a
terrible thunderstorm, and hiking for miles in soaking boots, she said, "I'd do it again." It was worth the trouble for the glorious benefits.
God reminded me concerning our faith, the same principle holds. In my
book Faith in the Fashion District releasing later this year (available for presale now), I
talk about why we often have to step out of our comfort zone to see God at work.
I know from personal experience, God may ask us to let go of security in order
to accomplish his purposes and help us experience life at its fullest.
This is unsettling business.
Oswald Chambers wrote, “Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained,
adventurous spirit in those who have placed their trust in Him that the natural
man exhibits. If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will
be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual
realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe
through common sense and leap by faith into what He says. “
We can cling to familiarity, sameness, and predictability to the point
that we can miss God. Change challenges us.
To a couple of men throwing their net into a lake, men who knew only
one way life, Jesus said, “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out
of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass”
(Matthew 4:19 The Message). Without questioning, Peter and Andrew threw down their
nets and went after Jesus.
You gotta love their leap of faith.
You gotta love their leap of faith.
Many years ago, I kept having dreams about getting new clothes. In the
dreams, I would say, I don’t want new clothes; I like the clothes I have. I
knew getting these new clothes would take risk and a lot of work. The clothes I wore at
the time were those of a musician. It’s what I’d always done, what I was
trained to do, but God was stirring in my heart the first rumblings of becoming
a writer. Being a writer means experiencing rejection and enduring solitude. It
has not been an easy transition, but here I am all these years later . . .
writing. I still do music, but when people ask what I do, I tell them I write. If
I had not been willing to embrace what God had for me, I would have missed my
life.
There are times, we have to throw down whatever is before us, whatever
is familiar and go after God. It may not be easy. We may face high winds and storms, but like my daughter, I feel certain that in the end we will say it was worth it.