We've all been in a situation where we need to do something, but our fear is taking over.
We need to let someone know how we feel, but we are scared of what they will say.
We have something to say in a group discussion, but don't want to be judged.
We want to let go of something that we have been clinging to for so long, but we are scared of what life will be without it.
We feel like we are being called to do something, but we procrastinate because it might be outside of our comfort zone.
We worry that we are going to make the wrong decision about an important life matter.
Sometimes though, we have to do hard things. We have to make hard decisions. We have to have hard conversations. None of the things I just mentioned are fun. None of those things are at the top of someone's list of things that they love to do. But sometimes, the things that we really need to do aren't going to be fun.
Since we tend to have this fear built up inside of us that what we may imagine as the "worst case scenario" is going to come true, so often we end up not doing the things that we should. We stay where we are comfortable instead of where we are called. We keep our mouths closed because the discomfort of the conversation around us in not as uncomfortable as the looks we would get from our peers for speaking what is on our mind. We hold on to things that harm us...even though the pain of holding on may be worse than the actual pain of letting go.
There is a lot of uncertainty in our lives. And it makes complete sense that as humans, we don't handle change well. We get in our own little "bubbles" and if anything threatens the homeostasis and equilibrium that we are maintaining in our bubbles, we panic. We spend hours trying to rationalize our decisions, weighing out pros and cons, looking at every single possible variable and outcome...when in reality, sometimes you just have to have faith that God will work things out for your good and for His glory.
In some situations, instead of standing on "the ledge" of whatever decision you are making and just letting your toe hang off the edge while you continue to think, sometimes you just have to jump. You have to take a leap of faith knowing that God will catch you in the air. You take a leap of faith knowing that even if you are to hit rock bottom in your decision, God is the rock that you'll hit at the bottom. You have to let go of your comfort and live the life that He has planned for you. And boy, is that life that He has planned a great adventure. We have to trust that He knows that we are imperfect human beings who will struggle and make mistakes...and we have to trust that He will direct us on the path that He has planned out for us.
You may not be able to directly see the "net" that will catch you, or you may not be able to see where you are going to land, but we have a God who is the net that will catch us and who knows where we are going to land.
Sometimes you just have to jump.
