This morning was cloudy and rainy but as we pulled up to the water park the sky had cleared. We enjoyed blue skies and sunshine our entire time there. Thank you Jesus.
My absolute favorite moment of the day was the conquering of the big blue water slide. My friend's three year old boy was having fun going down the green slide BUT there was also this bigger blue slide. So he climbed up to this slide and sat down ready to go.... only to get up and play nearby. He did this several times: sit down, ready to go, only to get back up and play close by as he watched other kids going down. Then FINALLY... he did it! He went down the slide and at the bottom was his mom to catch him. It was such a beautiful moment, I almost started to cry. This little guy had the biggest grin on his face and was absolutely beaming with joy and excitement. His mom was hugging him and shouting "you did it, you did it, you went down the blue slide." The mixture of emotions of pride, excitement, and joy were beautiful. I loved the pride of this mommy in celebrating her little son conquering his fear. After that moment, watch out, there was no more fear. I can not even begin to count how many times he climbed up and went down that blue slide all afternoon. Later, while we were enjoying some ice cream (did I mention what a perfect summer day it was?) my friend asked her kids about their favorite part of the day. And of course it all about going down that big blue water slide.
I love God's sense of timing. How He illustrates what he is teaching us through simple things like a big blue water slide. On our drive over to the park, my friend was sharing about a decision that she has been wrestling over. It was a pretty big decision that she has been praying about for some time. God had shown her how her response had been one of fear. God also spoke to her about how He is leading her in this decision. And now any sense of fear is gone for now she walks in the confidence of who her God is and how He is leading her.
FEAR. How many times do we react to things or made decisions out of fear? Probably more than we are aware of. My friend had the insight to realize that was underlying her decision yet many times we don't take time to realize what is motivating our response. Fear of failure, fear of other's opinion or approval, fear of the unknown, and the list could go on and on.
Yet once we realize there is fear, there is good news. We then can look to who our God is. Fear of failure... our God is the God of grace and redemption. He does not expect perfection. Fear of other's opinions...the deeper we fall in love with God, the more our focus is on Him, the less we care about other's approval. Why would it care if other's approve or understand if the God of this Universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords, our Abba Father approves and is calling us in this direction. Fear of the unknown...the Sovereign God of this Universe directs our every step. He promises to never leave us or forsake us. He is for our good and oh how He loves us. Once we can identity the fear, we are able to replace it with truth as we look to God and to His promises in the Bible.
And I can not help but think of our Abba Father sitting up in heaven. He sees us with our fear and oh how patient He is with us. It did not matter how many times my friend tried to re-assure her son that he would be fine, he needed to wait until he felt brave enough. God sees us with our fears and He tells us time and time again in His word not to fear. Look up the word fear in the bible and you will find so many verses re-assuring us not to fear for HE is with us. Yet God is patient with us as we are His beloved children. And when we finally do take that step of faith... how God must celebrate over us! I absolutely loved the joy and pride of my friend over her dear son. When we were leaving, she asked "who is going to tell daddy tonight about the blue slide?" Can you imagine the pride and joy of our Abba Father when we take a step of faith? He must say to Jesus, "Look at my beloved child! Did you see my child trusting Me? Did you see my child take a step of faith?" And once we take one step of faith, we receive so much confidence in who our God is that the next step of faith becomes easier. And easier. And we will find ourselves walking in faith with our eyes fixed on our God.
There will be much bigger challenges for this dear little boy down the road as he grows and matures. Yet, with each new challenge he will gain greater confidence. Throughout our lives there will be different or bigger challenges, yet we will gain greater confidence in our God if we choose to walk in faith and not let our fear hold us back. But when we do hold back because of fear, God will be patiently waiting at our side for He is gentle and kind. He understands we are His children.
May we choose to walk in faith and in confidence of who are God is... and experience the thrill of conquering our fear.
"For we live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
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