JUST DO IT…AFRAID.(Bootcamp Courage Series)

“Come to the edge,” He said.
“We can’t, we’re afraid!” they responded.
“Come to the edge,” He said.
“We can’t, we will fall!” they responded.
“Come to the edge,” He said.
And so they came.
And He pushed them…
And they flew.
(Guillaume Apollinaire)

Get ready.
We are in a time and season where God is going to ask you to do things that will take you beyond your comfort zone – way, way, way beyond your comfort zone.

He is going to hand over assignments, tasks and projects that will make your natural mind balk – not just necessarily in terms of immensity, but in terms of how much they will cost, especially spiritually, mentally, emotionally, even socially.

He is going to lead you into new territories and sectors you have never been in – and where you don’t even know anyone who has.

He will show you dreams and visions that are way bigger than you can ever imagine – and when you wonder, “How will these things be?”, He will tell you, “Start where you are.”

He is going to put you in uncomfortable situations, give you a word or revelation that can be ‘heavy’ – and He will tell you, “Say it.”

He will put you into a tide with everyone flowing in a certain direction – and then He will explicitly command you, “Turn and go the other way.”

You will tell him, “Lord, I can’t. It’s too big. It’s too risky. It’s too unpopular. I will fail. It hurts too much. No one has ever done this before. I have never done this before. It will be misunderstood.” Bottom line, “I am afraid.”

And He will tell you, “Just Do It.”

I remember when God told me to start a blog, and I was terrified. It wasn’t the blog in itself, but the issues He wanted me to address – and the fact that I wasn’t ready to do anything public. I kept saying, “Lord, I am afraid.”

One day, while praying and talking to Him, I felt a strong flow of an emotion I have never experienced from Him before.

It was displeasure. Real irritation.

As humans, we think God will be sympathetic or pitying of our fears – but His ways are not our ways. He wasn’t ‘understanding’, the way you think He would be.

He was really, really put off.

That was when I realised for the first time, practically and personally, how God views fear when He tells you to do something – and you keep giving excuses.

I now understand why He was put off with Moses in Exodus 4:14; and why He was angry with the children of Israel in Numbers 13 & 14.

Basically, to Him, I valued men and their opinions above His instructions and what He wanted to do.

That day, I realised that fear is actually an insult to God.

While it is/can be a natural reaction, focusing on it makes it bigger than God – and, therefore, makes it your god.

When God gives you an assignment or a task or drops something into your heart to do, He has a reason – and He knows why He has selected you.

He also knows that, being human, you will be afraid, but He wants you to place Him above everything – including your fears.

Yes, your knees will buckle. Your hands will tremble. Your palms will sweat. Your tongue will stammer. The butterflies in your tummy will riot violently…

…and the longer you delay, the more fearful you become – because fear increases with inertia.

So what do you do?

You just do it…afraid.

The first time you step out, hell might break loose and everything might fall to pieces – or nothing might happen and everything might, seemingly, remain the same.

However – no matter what happens outwardly – something has happened inside you.

When the dust and debris settle, you discover you are still alive! You have passed through the valley of the shadow of death – and you realise it was, really, just a shadow.

You step into a level of previously-unknown liberty; a breaking of a link in the chain of fear; most importantly, a deeper trusting in God.

Whatever happens outwardly is nothing compared to what has taken place inside you.

The closer we get to the end of the age, the more seemingly ‘radical’ and ‘spiritually-disruptive’ things God will ask of His children – and there won’t be time for popular opinions or dilly-dallying.

He is looking for those who will simply obey. Afraid.

The amazing thing is, when you take the first step (which is always the hardest) in obedience to God, you find that you just keep going forward – almost as if you don’t have a choice.

Initially, you think, “Let me just obey.” Then, “I can do this.” Then, “I am actually doing this…” Then, “I really did it!”

After sometime, He gives you a slightly bigger task and instructs, “Say this. Do that.”

You will still have butterflies, but this time – as someone once said – they are flying in formation. You are not as fearful as the first time.

With time, He begins to trust you with bigger, more difficult, more uncomfortable, more ‘disruptive’ tasks – and you begin to grow…and grow…and grow…

…Until you get to a point where He says, “Take down the moon and put it in your pocket” – and you will ask, “The left pocket or the right one?” (I’m kidding, but you get my drift.)

I really hope I get to that point.

Whatever God is dropping into your heart this season to do, just do it…

Afraid.

Start it.
Stop it.
Say it.
Send it.
Correct him.
Tell her.
Ask them.
Walk through that door.
Walk out of that door.
Take that hard decision.
Whatever it is,

Just do it…Afraid.

(For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, love, and of a sound mind. 2Timothy 1:7)