1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. 4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him.

Genesis 12:1-4

On Monday, we took our youth group to Seven Springs for our annual ski trip. I’ve been snowboarding for the past few years and each year I’ve been improving. This year – I was challenged to go down the black diamonds. When I saw these slopes, I instantly thought of “The Cliffs of Insanity” from Princess Bride. I was afraid to step out and go down – What if I get hurt? What if I look dumb? What if I don’t make it? As I was approaching the edge of the slope I read signs that said “Experts Only” and “No easy way down” – I wanted to back down. The friends I was with with yelled “Come on Bubs!” I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe and down I went.

(I definitely did not look this cool)

I made it to the bottom and had an absolute blast. It was funny because the whole way down the slope – God was dealing with my heart about this whole concept of stepping out. Here are some things I got during my descent:

• When You Step Out – You’ll Experience Things few People in Life Get to Experience - If I hadn’t been willing to step out I would have never experienced the thrill of going down a black diamond. What experiences are waiting for me if I’ll just believe God and step out?
  

• Stop asking fear questions and start asking Faith Questions -Instead of asking what if I fail, what if I look dumb, etc.. I should be asking What if God is going to take me to a higher level? What if this is part of making all my dreams come true?

• People want to see you step out and experience God’s best for my life – My friends knew I could do it and knew I’d enjoy the experience and they were thrilled to encourage me to step out. Do you have friends in your life that encourage you to step out?
  

• When you step out and look back – you’ll never regret that you stepped out – When I got to the bottom of the slope I was so pumped up that I decided to step out instead of back down. I couldn’t wait to do it again. When you step out in faith – you’ll never be disappointed!

Thoughts?

1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. 4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him.

Genesis 12:1-4

This is one of my scriptures for 2009. I really feel that God is and will be asking me to step out in faith in a lot of areas of my life. I was listening to a sermon the other day where the pastor was backing up prosperity with some scriptures and he mentioned how people will take it out of context and say the scripture means spiritually prosperous. The pastor went on to say -”Read the verse – don’t over-spiritualize it - You’re afraid to be blessed!“

Then it hit me – there are areas in my life right now that I’m afraid to step out on because God’s word just might be true! He just may make all my dreams come true. I’m afraid because it will require me stepping into the unknown – it will require a lot of risk. Risk causes questions like this run through my head:

What if I step out and fall?

What if I step out and fail?

What if I step out and miss out on everything I had going for me?

Questions like that often hold me back from receiving God’s best in my life. I don’t know about you – but I like when things are safe and I can see how every detail is going to work out. Unfortunately for me, that is not faith! If I want God’s best in my life it is going to require me to take a step of faith, I won’t be able to lean on my own understanding, and I’ll have to trust Him.

But here is what I know – God has never disappointed me, when I’ve stepped out – He’s always been there, God wants all my dreams to come true, and He has a plan for my life that is far beyond anything I can imagine. The only way I’ll ever see everything He has planned for me come to pass is to trust Him, to step out, and to take a risk.

I want to take a few days and teach you some things God’s been revealing to my heart  lately along these lines. If you have any revelation on this subject – I’d love to hear it! Please share!