The other day I was mentally scanning the last several months and how there are so many uncertainties. We live day to day, we know God has a plan and even a prize around the corner, but we don’t always know if the next step is the right step, or if the corner is close, or miles away and uncertainty breeds things like fear. My imagination, if allowed, will wander off without my good sense and ask things like, “what if the bottom falls out of this box and we have nothing left to stand on?”
I smiled then, because I realized, it already has. The bottom fell out a long time ago and we have been suspended in faith. It is not the bottom that we look for to secure us, not by a long shot, the bottom is only a dead end. Faith begs us look up. Faith knows that looking down, even looking at others, will not be enough. It is in looking up that we find confidence and we have had no other place to look.
When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he was full of faith. He saw something remarkable and suddenly believed something he had never believed before. He believed that he could defy all logic, all sensibility and knowledge of what is secure and walk out on the sea. It was only when he looked at “the wind” that he fell
But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
~Matthew 14:30
We can’t see wind, but that’s exactly what Peter looked at. Just like my imagination tries to convince me that I need my box to have a bottom, Peter’s told him that his steps needed a peaceful sea. None of us are given the right climate, the right circumstances, the right talents or the right credentials, none of us are given a box with a sealed and drop-proof bottom, when we are called to do what God wants done. We are suspended in the sweet security of the One who calls us. Our best knowledge is simply to know Him, and in that there is all the environment of success we will ever need.
This fall I’m going to do something I said I didn’t think I could do. I am going to home-school my boys. I have wondered if my bottom fell out simply for this purpose, to push me out of the boat and pull me into the deep. I once said, “God will have to speak audibly to me, to make me home-school.” This has been pretty close to audible. I had other options, but I sincerely want to do it, I just didn’t think I could until now.
The beauty of being suspended is that it makes all the other secure places questionable. How much do I need this house, these shoes, this car, this furniture and all the trappings we allow to define us? How much do you need? How much is the title, the degree, the ownership, the relationship, the denomination and all the “identity bling” really holding you up? Check and see if it’s holding you down instead. Maybe, just maybe, the bottom isn’t really the best place for our feet, and we shouldn’t be looking for ways to secure ourselves, but rather we should be kicking the bottom out, and letting our feet swing free over the vast security of holy and righteous possibility.
Every Sunday we end the morning service with a corny little phrase, “I’m too blessed to be depressed, I’m too anointed to be disappointed, I’m sitting on top of the world, with my feet hanging off.”
Corny right? It’s kind of perfect though too.
What I’ve been saying all along – it is time to get out of the boat! I am very positive you have chosen correctly. You know me – and I don’t mean anything more than I’m proud of you while I pray with you.
Thanks uncle Danny. 🙂
Perfect timing friend! Yesterday, I felt I needed “a box with a bottom”. I needed not just assurance, but insurance, that all these words, all these forward movements, guarantee me and my family that we will be protected from harm and failure. But, then what would we need Faith for.
We women need security, but its all false security except for knowing The Lord is in charge and He cares more than anyone. Still its hard to walk it out some days.
I have so many thoughts that I can’t seem to get them into one or two sentences. I’m excited for your new adventure though and I think it will be more rewarding than you can possibly imagine. And I also have a bunch of homeschool stuff if you want to rummage through and see if there’s anything you’d like to borrow. And also, we should have coffee. Soon.