There isn’t a “best time” for everything. Sometimes there is just: “Now, do the thing.”
I have been a slave much of my life to waiting for optimum timing, or waiting to have more information, or waiting to be able to control things better. I’d like to say it is because I am obedient to the Biblical imperative to “count the cost.” But I suspect the reason has a lot more to do with fearfulness than anything.
Here is a ridiculous and embarrassing example.
I had a wart on one of my hands. It was in kind of an out-of-the-way place, so mostly I didn’t think about it. But it started bothering me. So, I bought an over the counter freezing kit. It sat unused on the bathroom counter for an entire year.
I pulled out the instructions and read them more than once. They warned of all sorts of things, as most medical inserts do. Inevitably I decided against applying the medicine, because I was concerned I might do it wrong, or that it would create a hassle of a process to deal with, or I don’t even know. I kept stopping at the water’s edge. Eventually, I had more than one wart! The problem has multiplied in the face of my indecisiveness.
I am telling you. This. Is. Ridiculous.
But it is a great example the problems with “waiting for the right time” or “getting all the information” or “being in the best position to take action.” All of those things that stop us from stepping out boldly in the directions we need to go. (Even if the “bold step” is merely to apply wart medication.)
There is a very real battle going on to keep us from living fully, obediently, and magnificently for His glory and His kingdom. Voices in our world are saturated with fear, urge caution, and fill us with dread.
When God leads us out with His directions for us, the enemy of our souls likes to paralyze us by spinning out tales in our imaginations of all the things that can go wrong, all the objections and conflict we might encounter, all the reasons we have to stay still. Our flesh bends under the weight of all these things, so we long to keep our heads down, and hope we can just have a pain-free life.
Jesus didn’t promise us a pain free life. Quite the opposite. In John 16:33 He promises we will have trouble in this world.
Eventually, I finally took the plunge and froze my warts. You know what pushed me over the finish line? Talking to a friend about how ridiculous I was being about this one particular thing. She shared she had successfully used just such a product, and she still had all ten of her fingers. It just took that little nudge, that little picture of success to convince me that I, too, could take action.
The companionship of a fellow traveler and the camaraderie of community are so incredibly important in our lives. Not just for conquering silly health-related anxieties, but for taking the steps of obedience God is calling us to. We need the beauty of Christian community and friendships as we journey along with the Lord. He ordained it to be so, as the New Testament attests to repeatedly.
I want to make a challenge. Go to that one thing… you know the one you have been putting off out of fear? Put it front and center with God. Ask Him for the next step. It probably won’t be hard to discern what it is. You probably already know.
Then, TAKE THE NEXT STEP.
If you are still stuck at the water’s edge, phone the friend. Get your need out onto the radar of Christian community. Tell someone what it is you need to do. Invite them to hold you accountable.
Blessings as you take the next step toward more of Him.
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