Learning to Skate!

My two oldest children, Jake and Ben, were recently invited to a family roller-skating event! Parents were invited to skate too! Once at the rink, with the roller skates securely fastened to my ankles, I started to wonder if, perhaps, I’d bitten off more than I could chew! I struggled to my feet with images gripping my mind of all the potential bones I could break and realised very quickly - I was quite seriously out of my depth! I had to decide - was I going to admit defeat and recognise I was not the 12 year old roller-dancing-queen that I used to be, or was I going to give it a go and quite possibly fall flat on my face? I chose to give it a go.

In the grand scheme of life and the universe it really didn't matter whether I skated or not (it’s certainly not part of my destiny!), but in our Christian walk we are faced with opportunities where our choices really do matter. Are we going to face the very real possibility of failure and embarrassment by doing something we have a feeling God is asking us to do, or do we choose the easy option and sit on the side and watch everyone else? Sometimes it’s fear that holds us back from stepping out and trusting God - "what if I get it wrong"? Sometimes it’s pride - "what will people think of me"? Sometimes it’s pure human logic - "it just doesn't make sense". And sometimes we’ve positioned ourselves so comfortably, confident we’ll give it a go `when we’ve got it perfect', that we’ve become the experts at never giving God a chance.

Just as Jesus asked Peter to step out of the boat and to walk on the water and trust Him, I believe Jesus will give us similar opportunities. Jesus can prove Himself faithful if we’re only willing to step out. As with the skating, we can make a choice. Do we give it a go or do we sit back and watch? It wasn't enough for me to just fasten on the skates and stand up holding on to the safety barrier. You only begin to skate when you step on to the rink, let go of the barrier and give it a go. In a similar way, unless we give the Lord a chance to prove Himself faithful, will we ever really learn to trust Him? If we don't trust Him, will we really grow deeper in our relationship with Him?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe You’re trustworthy and faithful. I’m sorry for the times I’ve doubted You, or the times I’ve walked away from opportunities where You wanted to prove Yourself to me. Open my eyes to see places in my life where I can have an opportunity to step out and trust Your faithfulness, so that I can grow deeper in my love for You and understand more of Your heart for me. In Jesus’ name Amen.