When I was a child we had a garage apart from our home where my father used to do bodywork on vehicles as a supplemental income for our family. And for a family that total to 9 people, the income came in quite handy!
As a child, that garage became the center point of many games and adventures for my siblings and me. One of those adventures was using a ladder to climb to the roof and then pushing away the ladder, thus forcing us to jump off! (We didn’t have PS3 in those days) The roof of the garage was not that tall; I believe it measured to about 12 feet. But to a child that might as well have been 24 feet!
All of my other brothers made the jump accept me. It was the “what if” thoughts that invaded my mind which caused me to freeze. Fear gripped me and prevented me from taking the leap. Sure…there were risks involved and it even appeared to be irresponsible. I had many reasons why I should not have taken the leap.
I am certain that the best thing that can happen to us is for our fears to be realized so we can realize the thing we feared wasn’t as bad as the fear we felt. Many times the Lord will lead you to places where “a leap” is required. And the funny thing is He will always remove the ladders of retreat!
I had no choice; I had to face my fears! The fact is we have to face our fears because we will always grow to the level of our fears and no further. Today, I find myself there again, on top of “the garage,” facing my fears and knowing very well that a leap is imminent.
In closing, I finally did take that leap off my Dad’s garage and at the end it really wasn’t as bad as I thought, as a matter of fact, it was quite exhilarating! It only opened the doors to greater heights!
Anxious to read your thoughts,
Pastor Manny
