It’s funny how when we arrive at the edge of a cliff, the first thing we do is look down. We see how high up we are and take into account how much we have to lose. What if we fall? What if we fail and lose everything? Why don’t we look outward from the cliff first? Why don’t we point to a higher mountain in the distance and say with ambition, “That’s where I could be. I want to go there!”
We consistently find ourselves wide-eyed in fear, rather than wide-eyed in wonder.
We consider everything but God. But consider this – what are you made of? Fear and worry or the stuff Jesus was made of? Have you forgotten that you carry the same Spirit Jesus did when He walked the earth? That Spirit of power that made the impossible commonplace?
What would happen if we made the impossible our ground level? I’m starting to wonder if the life of Jesus isn’t something we should just try to imitate as we attempt to achieve clear sight by clawing through all the nonsense we’ve been buried in. We suffocate on the doubt jammed down our throats by fearful Christians. Last time I checked, being a Christian meant being Christ-like. With so many “Christians” around, why do I have to look so hard to see Jesus in His people? What I see are distortions of the Image we were created in. We’ve let ourselves become corrupted through the lure of selfish ambition as we lust after seemingly harmless pursuits like comfort and security. Where did we go wrong?
Rest assured this is from God’s mouth not from my pointed finger. I want you to know that I’m in the boat right beside you. I’m trying to figure things out too. What’s my place in all of this? I feel so far from the intended life we have been made to live. I feel lost in a range of mountains so much bigger than anything I could ever do. I feel helpless to change the paths of my brothers who leap head first into the bottomless pit, free falling through life as they waste away.
But my feelings betray me.
When I refuse the offered distractions and shut out the voices of fools, I hear on the deepest level a call to a life lived better than this. So I step into the quiet. I look into Jesus’ eyes and He reminds me of the truth. Together, we take notice of the surroundings. He shows me a land full of people making excuses. God gave us gifts, but we tell Him ten thousand reasons why they aren’t good enough. So we carry on. And we find ourselves sleepily drifting thirty five years deep in a life we don’t want to live.
But if we made the life of Jesus our foundation, we’d go higher than anyone has ever seen before. We would do things no one has ever seen before. Jesus will take us as high as we’ll let Him, leaving behind any chance of a meaningless existence. That’s good because I’m bored with what I’ve seen so far. I want to go where no one has gone before. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to take His outstretched hand.
“We’re scared
Lord, we’re terrified
But dive in we must
Cause there has to be something better than this
For we see testimony of You in the sea
Your creation, all of nature
So with a sudden rush
We abandon our solitary perching place
And as we wash away the morning dust
Immersed; we see Your face”
– The Sea Always Seems To Put Me At Ease, Being As An Ocean
