Do it now.
Read Time: 11 mins
“Jesus said, “Come.” And Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus.”
Matthew 14:29 ICB
What would you do if you actually believed God was with you?
How would you live?
It's hard to describe it. It's a feeling somewhere wrapped up between regret and desire, or longing and embarrassment. It's the feeling that comes from reminiscing on what could have been. It's the weight I feel on my chest when I'm up late wondering if I had more to give. Have you ever felt it? It's the bus ride after a close game that you know you could have won. It’s the feeling you get when you regret not going to the event after you hear how great it was. It's a feeling that asks, “What if?” Let me illustrate it with a moment.
One afternoon while meeting him at a hotel in my city to loan him a keyboard he could use to prepare for an event, I felt compelled to apologize to my former choir director. I didn't hurt him or harm him in any tangible way. I didn't talk behind his back or do anything immoral. I felt I needed to apologize because I didn't feel like I gave him my best when I sang in the choir.
I had dreamed of being in this choir. I grew up hearing them and emulating them. When I got to college and would hear them sing in person, I would feel literal pain in my heart that screamed in its desire to be on the stage with them and not in the audience merely experiencing them. I would spend time and money teaching myself music theory and asking for voice lessons so that I would one day be a part of the group I knew I belonged in.
Finally, after a few years of preparation, it was time. I tried out again and made the choir. The second round of tryouts alone involved being given 22 pages of music and being expected to sing it the next day. It took work to get there and it took more work to stay there. Nine hours of practice a week not counting sectionals and private lessons and sessions. There were performances and travel between a full load of college classes and during breaks on both weekdays and weekends. And if you think that's a lot, part of my experience was during the pandemic, where the weight travel and competitions were limited compared to other years. That’s what it was like joining a choir that was on the heels of being named the literal “choir of the world.”
Now you hear that and may think it's a hefty load, and while you'd be right, I sometimes look back and still feel like I could have done more. While I practiced, I could've practiced harder. While I made relationships, I could have been more intentional. While I experienced amazing performances, I feel like I could have sat in the moment a little more. I could've been where my feet were a little more. I gave a lot, but I feel like I could've given more.
I remember during one of our debriefs and devotionals after an event towards the end of the year, a friend with tears in her eyes spoke about how we would never be in a choir with these people, in these spaces, at this point in time with this director again. Our director was transitioning to a new school and many of us were graduating. It was over. This was a rare intersection of time and space that we would never get back, and like a poof, it was gone. We would likely never be in a space with this type of talent, this much chemistry, this type of anointing, and this caliber of director again. Her comments made me appreciative yet regretful. It was amazing to experience these moments, but did I milk them of all they were worth?
I can confidently say that while I wasn't a music major or voice student, with the right training and direction I could have been a solid option for some solos but I was always too afraid to step forward. I wish I had put myself out there more. I was privileged to serve as the choir's chaplain but sometimes I look back and wonder what would have happened if I had been bolder and more confident in my call. I remember shyly hiding and brushing it off when the choir asked for information on how to join the online church my friends and I had started. I wish I was bolder. While I experienced greatness, I felt like I held back. Do you understand this feeling of regret? This feeling of wishing you stepped forward? The question of what would have happened if you gave more?
Was I holding back out of fear? Oftentimes I am one to scout out land before advancing. I'll feel out a crowd or conversation before being as bold as I know I can be. I think it's a good trait. It helps me to be a chameleon and assimilate into diverse spaces and places. Yet, the same gift that oftentimes makes me likable can be used as a crutch when I am afraid of being disliked. It holds me back. Instead of advancing into potential conflict, I stay safe in the comfort of dimmed gifts and stagnation.
Why am I telling you this? Because I hate the feeling that I missed out. I hate feeling like I could have done more. I hate sitting back and wondering what life would be like if I didn't hold back, and I don't want to feel it anymore. While I'm often scared to jump, I believe that if we create a community of other scared jumpers, it will at least be nice to not be as alone when we take our leaps of faith.
I started this by asking what you would do if you believed God was with you. What would you do if you believed what He said about you? What would you do if the best of the blessing was there for the taking yet found on the other side of momentary discomfort? Would you still go for it? Would you jump?
Peter’s gift of impulsivity allowed him to experience aspects of the abundant life Jesus offers that many of us can only dream of. Peter didn't wait for it to be perfect. He didn’t wait for the storm to clear. He didn't scout out the land. He didn't hold back or wait for his friends to catch up, do it first or even understand. He stepped out during the storm and became the only man to experience God’s greatness surging through him in a comparable way.
God has called you, not to the ordinary but the extraordinary. The Bible says that God has set eternity in the heart of man. That means that He designed you with a vision and desire bigger than you. He has called you to step out into worlds that only you and He can see. He has called you to step out. Do you want this Peter-like experience or do you want to spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been if you stepped out?
Time waits for no man and oftentimes our patience for perfection stops us from capitalizing on the extraordinary that has been provided in that moment. Don’t wait for perfect conditions. Jump now. You do not want to miss out on this opportunity.
I went to lunch with some community leaders and clergy in the Cincinnati area and one of the senior pastors asked me a question that has stuck with me for years. He asked, “What was Moses’ biggest mistake?” Afraid of giving the wrong answer, I responded that I didn't know. I waited for him to fill the silence and he spoke up by explaining this concept:
God told Moses that if he spoke to a rock, water would come pouring out. God invited Moses to be a part of a club that only He, the Creator was a part of. Moses’ voice would be given permission to create something out of nothing and transform one state of matter into another. This may not sound insane to you because you think you've made something happen before, but the best scientist cannot turn something that is not into something that is, especially with a mere word. I heard Charlie Dates say, “God stepped out on nothing. He looked at nothing… surveyed nothing. Spoke to nothing… but when He got done speaking, something appeared everywhere.” Gardner Taylor says “When God got to ‘let’, all that was not started straining to become.”
God is commanding Moses to break every law of physics and logic and step into the use of Godlike power. Yet, Moses declines the offer and misses out on the opportunity. Moses opts to hit the rock like he did last time instead of speaking to it like God has called him to this time. Moses reverts to the ordinary He was used to instead of stepping out of faith into the extraordinary He was called to. Don't be like Moses.
Now striking a rock and seeing water come out is special, but it wasn’t extraordinary. It had happened before. Slightly above average is disobedience for the Christ-Follower. You are called to the impossible, not just the unlikely.
God has called you to do the impossible. Plans and processes are great for predicting and producing the possible, but not the impossible. God is calling you to trust Him into uncharted waters–spaces no one in your family has had the power to picture.
God has called you to partner with Him in miracles, and I don't want you to be like Moses and miss out on the extraordinary because you settled for slightly more than the ordinary. Imagine if Ezekiel got old wondering what would have happened if he had spoken to that valley of dry bones like God told him to. Imagine the regret he would feel if David grew old as a prisoner in a Philistine concentration camp because he was too afraid to attack the giant when he had a chance. What if Elijah hid instead of calling down fire from heaven? What if Moses gave up and turned himself in at the Red Sea?
You may not think your acts of faith are as consequential, but what if God wants your marriage to break the generational curses but you are afraid to ask her out? What if your business is going to change the landscape of your family but you're afraid to market it? Your church will be used to save thousands of lives but you are too afraid to get involved. Your voice will stop generations from committing suicide but you are shying away from using it. What has God called you to step out on that you are holding back?
I know it's scary, but stepping out is worth it. Take the leap. Start now. Build the atomic habits that create your future. Act like the future you now, and you’ll start to get the results of the future you now. What would you do if you believed God was with you? Be bold. Ask her out. Go to the school. Start the ministry. Scale the event up and stretch yourself or have the faith to pull it back and grow in obscurity for a season. Do whatever uncomfortable thing God is telling you to do. Post it. Write it. Produce it. Publish it. Fight through it. Change it. Put your all into it. Don't wait for the New Year, delay is disobedience. Start walking now. You can do it. Step out.
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This has been my favorite devotional to write in a while. Please send it to as many people that the Lord lays on your heart as possible. Encourage them to read it and maybe discuss it. That may be the step you are called to.
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For others, the step God is calling you to is to trust Him in your finances. Give to this ministry as a way to seeing God as the head and not your bank account. Give to His mission through this ministry to help build in you the same system of priorities He has. You can give to $ThoughtsByPace on Cash App or through the giving tab on this website. Thank you for your leap. It has helped impact literal thousands.
