At the end of last month, my team went to Victoria Falls and decided to do the 300 ft. bungee jump off the bridge there. The bungee is attached at your feet, so when you jump off the platform, you keep your arms extended so that your body forms a T, and you jump outwards so that you fall face first. The chasm that you jump into is huge, and the fact that there are crocodiles in the water below where you’re hanging makes it all the more terrifying. I’ve never screamed so loud in my entire life.
Last weekend, my team got the chance to go water skiing and tubing on a lake with one of the families that we’ve met in Zimbabwe. They ended up taking us to a small cliff so that we could jump off into the water. Aside from the fact that the ground where we jumped from was extremely uneven, and we had to make sure we jumped out instead of straight down to avoid hitting rocks, it wasn’t really scary. But for some reason I was scared. While at the top deciding who was going to jump first, my teammate Christina and I looked at each other and laughed at the fact that we had both bungee jumped off a 300 ft. bridge, but were scared to jump off a 25 ft. cliff.
“If you’re not doing something that scares you, do something else.”
This is something my teammate David says quite frequently. What are you doing in your life that scares you? That makes you nervous? That you’re unsure of?
I’ve had so many people look at me and say, “Wow, you’re so brave for going on the Race! I couldn’t do that.” I quit my job, moved out of my apartment, put off paying my parents back for my car (thanks, guys), put relationships on hold, and said ‘yes’ to having a very unknown future. I wouldn’t call that brave, in fact, many people would probably call that stupid. And truth be told, I was just as excited as I was nervous. My decision to go on the Race was simple obedience. God told me in a very clear way that I needed to go. So I did. Did it scare me? Yes. But what would the Christian life be if we weren’t a little bit afraid?
Now that I’m on the Race, I’ve realized how much I need to continue to follow God’s lead, even when what he’s telling me to do makes me want to go and hide under my bed. It’s not enough to settle for following his lead to come. Now that I’m here, I need to continue to do things that don’t make sense to the world. I need to step out in faith. I need to to do things that would be impossible if not for God. I need to do things that scare me a little.
When we do things that scare us, it gives room for God to do things that blow our minds.
In Matthew 14, the disciples see Jesus walking on water in the middle of a storm. They’re all freaking out. They’re in a boat, there’s a massive storm going on around them, and Jesus is defying the laws of physics. I’d be freaking out, too. Peter pretty much tells Jesus that if it’s really Him (and not a ghost), then He should ask him to walk on the water, too. Jesus does, and Peter gets out of the boat and starts to walk on the water.
“But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.” Matthew 14:30-32
Notice that Jesus doesn’t calm the storm before He calls Peter to step out in faith. He doesn’t calm the storm when Peter is on the water. He waits until they are back in the boat to calm it. But he does calm it.
What is God calling you to do? He may be asking you to go through a hurricane, but He’s going through it with you. Are you doing things for Him that scare you? That make you nervous? That make your stomach churn a little and your palms sweaty? If not, what the heck are you waiting for?
