I sit here on a February day in Kentucky where the temperature will get close to 70 today. I sit in a Starbucks in my hometown, which is surreal because our town is small, and I never thought we would have the big city flair of Starbucks. (For the record, I am a recovering coffee snob, but no more – yet I still love the environment to write in. I do some of my best writing and sermon prep in this type of environment). I just had lunch with my wife and my 9 1/2-month-old son who is my fourth. Our fourth son – all four of them are great and precious gifts.
All of these things are beautiful surprises but surprises none the less. Surprises are life.
Life is full of twists and turns, things we can’t see when we start the journey. Life is like a trail on which we hike. We might know that the trail leads into the woods, but the twists and turns, the people we meet, the animals we encounter and hindrances and the trail can be completely unknown when you start.
There are times after a hard rain that you might encounter an impromptu waterfall or a narrow trail due to heavy running water. You never know what you will encounter.
But just because you do not know what is around the next bend in the road, does not mean that you don’t walk it.
I have recently picked up a book called: How to Fight a Hydra by Josh Kaufman (https://amzn.to/2Dh7vMz). In this book, it makes this point very clearly.
I am afraid. That is not a reason to avoid the beast. Courage means being afraid and acting anyway. I leave at dawn.*
Here is the one point I invite you to sit with today:
Are you allowing your fear to hold you back and stop you from going forward?
Courage is not the absence of fear, but proceeding forward in spite of it.
Set your face and still your heart: We leave at dawn.
*Kaufman, Josh. How to Fight a Hydra: Face Your Fears, Pursue Your Ambitions, and Become the Hero You Are Destined to Be (p. 14). Worldly Wisdom Ventures LLC. Kindle Edition.
Comments