When you were a kid did you ever jump off a dock into the water or, better yet, jump off the top of a cliff into the water? Maybe you are all braver than I but I remember those seconds that seemed like hours when I would stand at the edge thinking and deciding if I should jump, weighing all the possibilities and outcomes in my nine-year-old head, the “what ifs”. What if I get hurt? What if there’s a rock right below? What if I never come back up? What if…

 

Why after 30 years are we still being controlled by the “what if” monster? Even when we want to take that risk, when we want to jump in we still play with the “what if” monster, so much that we often times decide not to jump. We live in regret for the rest of our lives wondering,”what if I had?” WHOA! There’s that monster again. But on the other side! That’s right, he plays both teams: one he tries to stop you from jumping, and the other when you don’t jump but should have he asks, “what if I had jumped?”

 

It’s not really a monster, per say. It’s a little thing we surrender to called FEAR. It’s what prevents us from jumping in, fully into the life God has destined for us since the hand of time began. It’s what dictates how much of our heart we give someone. It’s what keeps us from changing the world around us: fear of man, fear of failure, fear of pain, fear of regret. Everything you could ever want is on the other side of fear and you will NEVER know what incredible possibilities are over there if you let the roadblock of fear get in the way. But how do we demolish this little irritating life sucking monster?

FAITH. Faith and fear cannot exist together. Faith is described in Hebrews 11:1 as being “certain of what we do not see”. It is an absolute belief that God is constantly working behind the scenes in every area of our lives, even when there is no tangible evidence to support that fact. Fear on the other hand is weakened faith. Every time we let unbelief dictate our thoughts we let fear control our emotions and choices! This is not something we can muster up. Faith comes from by hearing the word of God, either you believe 100 percent of what the bible says or it’s all hogwash. Scripture says faith is a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9) that comes from the gift of the Holy Spirit! Be confident in the God that you have given your life to. Know that He knows our thoughts and our deepest fears! However, the bible is clear we must move on from our fears to produce stronger faith. This process is not without trials, in fact, adversity is the most effective tool that God uses to strengthen our faith. That pattern is evident in scripture. God takes each one of us through fearful situations, and as we learn to obey God’s Word and allow it to saturate our thoughts, we find each trial becomes a stepping-stone to a stronger and deeper faith. It gives us that ability to say, “He sustained me in the past, He’ll carry me through today and He’ll uphold me in the future!” When we succumb to fear we are telling Him “I don’t trust you or you are not big enough to conquer this!” As a fellow “what if” monster entertainer I too need to remind myself daily that He has already gone before me, to recall all the things He has done in the past. He will make a way. I encourage you to grab hold of what you know is true. There is something in your life right this very minute that you are debating to jump or not to jump. You are hearing the “what ifs”, turn it around and whisper, “but what if it’s incredible?”

Trust HIM. Do not get to the end of your life – which we don’t even know the expiration date on – and be full of the other “what if” monster.

 

 

What are you waiting for? JUMP.