Fours and fives are natural risk takers. Thomas and Amelia are beginning to test their own limits and each time they confidently move ahead, their younger siblings, Timothy and Ezra soon follow. Thomas mastered a rock climbing wall twice my height today and helped his brother overcome his fear of the tallest slide on the playground by holding his hand the first two times down and letting go halfway down the third time. Amelia learned to ride her bicycle without training wheels on the third try today with her daddy’s excellent coaching! She is four, exactly the same age as her dad when he learned to ride a bike. I feel certain Ezra won’t be far behind. As soon as her daddy learned, he wanted his sister who was older by nineteen months to know how to ride too so he taught her. These kiddos are learning to leave it all on the field and live with no regrets.
In his prayers tonight, Thomas thanked God for giving him courage to climb the wall. Knowing he is not alone is half the battle. His first time up, I helped him find his footing once. I stood back the rest of the time watching both the slide and the climbing wall. He knew I was there if he needed me. I stand with these little ones God has entrusted to me now, their parents too, taking every opportunity to point them to Jesus, so that they will learn how to fully rely on God when it really counts!
“My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!”
Psalms 121:2 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.121.2.NLT
Thinking back over my own life, there are definitely times I wish I had stepped outside my comfort zone and taken the risk. My dad took us to visit a lighthouse once. I took pictures from the ground of the others waving down from the top. I made it up several flights of stairs, the open-grate metal kind, but I ground to a halt less than a third of the way up. I sat there long enough for them to reach the top before making my way tentatively back down. I rode a SkyWheel once with my husband and kids. When the ride stopped to begin unloading, I finally decided to open my eyes. I have long been afraid of heights but I have enjoyed roller coasters and I’ve been the designated parent on any ride that spins in spite of occasional motion sickness. I was forty-seven before I flew in an airplane. True to my word, I consented to fly when one of my children needed me. Having children made me bolder. Having cancer gave me a profound sense of urgency. Surviving both taught me much.
Regret is feeling disappointment over a missed opportunity. Though often used synonymously, regret is not the same as repentance. Regret is the language of human nature. It is the old man with his back turned to God searching the shadows for firm footing. Regret recognizes its own shortcomings but never intends to remedy them. It is content with the status quo. Its mantra is same story, different day.
“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation.
There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow.
But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.”
2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.7.10.NLT
Repentance couples sincere regret with a reversal. What we have in Christ is the opposite of regret. Hope is a living, growing thing leaning ever toward the Light; at once rooted firmly in Christ Jesus and willing to step out onto the waves. Hope is willing to risk what it cannot keep to gain what it can never lose. (Jim Elliott, missionary martyr)
“But Jesus spoke to them at once.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”
Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
“Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.”
Matthew 14:27-29 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.14.27-29.NLT
Peter’s faith may have faltered when he saw the waves without the solid wood planks of the boat beneath him but he was the only one to step onto the waves.
“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
Hebrews 11:1 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.11.1.NLT
“And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.”
1 Corinthians 15:19-20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.15.19-20.NLT
“We were given this hope when we were saved.
(If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.
But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)”
Romans 8:24-25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.24-25.NLT
God instructed Joshua, “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.” And God equipped him for every step of the race set before him. Will you trust Him to do the same for you?
“Be strong and very courageous.
Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you.
Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left.
Then you will be successful in everything you do.
Study this Book of Instruction continually.
Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.
Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
This is my command—be strong and courageous!
Do not be afraid or discouraged.
For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.””
Joshua 1:6-9 NLT
