Imagine you are standing at the edge of a high dive. Ten meters below you is a pool so deep you don't even know how far down the bottom is. You've never been this high. You've only gone off the low diving board. You've never been in water that deep before. And you're scared. Your coach is telling you that you can do it. He's never let you down before. Why would He now?
Now, I have a slightly different picture to paint for you. See that picture right above this? That was taken my last day at City of Refuge Children's Home in Jamaica. That window my friend and I are leaning out of has a ledge maybe about two feet below it. But after that ledge, there is nothing but a very steep mountain. And yes, we are leaning out of it without holding onto anything (well, except for our feet being stuck under the picnic table in front of the window).
But there is a funny story behind this picture. You see? The first few days we were in Jamaica, this friend kept leaning out the window. Several of us watching her were definitely freaking out. And I was one of the people freaking out initially. Then on our third day at the home, she tried to get me to do it with her. After I about had a heart attack once or twice from her doing it, you'd think she would know my answer, but it still took a few times telling her no for her to quit asking.
Well, you'd think after a year of hanging out with this friend I would know that I may as well not ever tell her no on stuff like that. Because it seems I always end up doing it later. About five minutes after she quit asking, I decided I wanted to do it. The only thing was that by that time, I had two things keeping me from doing it. One - I had just told her no about five times. (Yes, I can be that stubborn when I want to be.) Two - I was still scared.
We had dinner. We did devotions with the children. We played games. We went back to our room. I forgot about it. At least I thought I did.
Back in my room that night I was having some quiet time. I was reading my Bible, praying, listening to God. Apparently, God didn't forget about it. Well, before I closed my journal and went to bed, I really felt like God was telling me I needed to lean out that window, that He wanted to teach me something through it. So I wrote down in my journal that I would do it first thing in the morning the next day.
The next morning, I woke up. Before breakfast I made sure I leaned out the window. Surprisingly enough, I had fun doing it. I didn't get it right away, but by the end of the next day I did. God wanted to show me that the things I'm scared of, aren't worth being scared of. They actually end up being enjoyable. All I have to do is trust Him and act.
I'll be honest. I still haven't applied that lesson to much this year other than riding a few rides at amusement parks that previously terrified me. I got to thinking about that last week after riding one particularly "scary" ride that I loved. I wanted to know why God would teach me something that I hadn't had to use.
As I sat there talking to a friend about it, I was reminded of a verse I had read the night before. "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father."
I got to thinking about that. God expects us to do things even greater than what Jesus did while He was on this earth. That's some pretty big deal stuff. I mean, come on. Jesus raised people from the dead with just a few words. He walked on water. He healed blind people. That's a lot to live up to. Honestly, it's scary.
God asks us to do scary stuff. He asks us to talk to people we've never met. He asks us to share His Word, His life and His freedom with them. He asks us to pray for people, lay our hands on them and watch them receive His healing. He asks us to bring people back to life spiritually by introducing them to Him. A lot of times, we're too scared to do it - scared of what people will think, scared of rejection, scared of failure.
But here's the thing. God still expects us to do what He asks. We don't have to be afraid. Just like He wanted me to lean out that window, He wants you to dive head first into all He has for you. He's really the one doing all the work. Even if we do fall, He's there to catch us. But He won't let us fall because He loves us too much. He believes we can do greater works than Jesus. He told us we will do greater works than Jesus did. Then He gave us His Spirit to ensure that we could do it and do it without fear.
So you're still on that high dive. You're standing there. You hear your coach telling you that you can do it. It's time. Go ahead and just dive.
