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But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22 ESV

Where do you feel the safest? Are there places in your life where you’ve settled? Do you want to be fearless? Since the beginning of January God has brought these three questions to my attention.

God’s been speaking to me about how I perceive safety. The place I feel the safest is at my bay. Steep sand dunes and towering cedar trees surround it to the east and Northwest. I know every inch of its coastline. Although, it’s a completely secure feeling to know what’s around the next curve, it’s putting trust in what I see and what I know, not in who I serve.

Christ wants me to move beyond the shores. Like the ships sailing beyond the safety of my bay, who hurl their sails and trust in the wind to move them forward. I want to be like the waves and live in freedom beyond the shore. Not afraid to test the depths and thrive in any storm.

Freedom and healing are just beyond your sight, over the horizon.

Lean your sails into the wind and let the Star maker guide you away from the safety of your own shores.

For the last seven months I have been working tirelessly on getting to know how Christ views me, it’s been an arduous journey, and worth every bit of it all. I haven’t arrived yet, but I’m moving through life more attuned to His leading and His voice than I’ve ever been.

As I move further up the dune, the word “settle” keeps whispering to me. The sand settles on the beach and it only moves in the midst of a storm or when the waves pick it up from the bottom of the lake and throw it to and fro. If there is no storm, then the sand settles on the beach layer upon layer or slowly sinks to the bottom. It needs a storm to help transform it into beach glass. It needs a storm to produce a path more narrow or wide.

Frequently, like the sand, I settle and it takes a storm to move me out into the depths of uncertainty. Uncertainty leaves me feeling helpless and out of control, and as a woman who lost half her heart five years ago, I’m not comfortable ushering in more uncertainty. However, Christ continues to show me it may be uncertainty for me, but He is always certain. He knows in order to not settle, I must trust Him even when the way seems outrageously perilous and screams in my ear of danger.

With a gentle whisper, God has shown me how fearful I behave. Fearful has a mutual relationship with safety and settling and not venturing out beyond the shore. I don’t want to be fearful, I want to be fearless.

Fearless occurs when I’m leaning into Holy Spirit and relying on Him to fill every part of me. Fearless happens when I’m being a “doer of his word and not just a hearer.”

Dear Heavenly Father, Please use our safe places as filling stations, where You fill us with more of You. Help us to take time to calibrate our hearts so we can remember Your vision, Your purpose and Your plan for our lives. We thank you for the certainty You provide in our daily lives, but we need Your help to exercise our faith and be “doers of the word.” Help us to not settle like sand on the ocean floor. We want You to move us into all You have set aside for Your children. Lord, Thank you for calling us out beyond what we see, so we can catch of glimpse of what You see. In Your Mighty Name, amen.