He stood there. He looked up at the bars.
“Do you think I can do it Mommy?”
“Yes, son, I do.”
This kid was nearly a blackbelt at monkey bars. He lives them, he breathes them, he scampers across them at nearly every playground we go to. There was no doubt he could swing across, even if they were 3 times as high as the others.
“Son, just keep your eyes looking ahead – and move – one by one, bar-by-bar.”
At this point, the hyperventilation begins, the “I can’ts”, the “It’s impossibles” and the “I don’t want tos” come about. At this point, I draw near, look him in the eye and say,
“Don’t give up. You can do it. I will help you. I will not leave your side. Do you trust me?”
And in this split-second moment, as soon as my words left the safety of my mouth, I knew they were not only meant for him, but for me.
“Don’t give up. You can do it. I will help you. I will not leave your side. Do you trust me?”
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze. Is. 43:2
The bars God calls me to climb, even when descent is miles below, are always bars for which he has well prepared me. Just as I put my arms around my son to encourage, comfort and catch him – God does the same with me.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber. Ps. 121:3
Will we trust him?
So often, we are so like me son, aren’t we?
We find moving across the bars of known and familiar is clockwork,
but, pushing ahead into risky is not.
We find evaluating catastrophe,
more valuable than believing he will really rescue our fall.
We know that God is near,
we just are not sure enough that he will really catch us.
The heights of big, high and different,
negate God’s bootcamp of preparation.
We see the different,
God sees how he is always the same.
Somehow, when we see the heights of new,
we forget the victories of old already proved.
Then, like my son, we question things, we look down and say, “Whoa, God, this? You want me to do this?”
Then, we question things.
We let our mind run laps.
We procrastinate.
We analyze.
We rationalize.
We justify.
We give marching orders.
We disaster prepare.
We get bunker supplies.
Do you allow the risky heights of what you see,
divert you from the ample love of the one you can’t?
For the truth is, the adventure which you stand, looking at, considering and questioning, is the exact one that God wants to use to encourage you. It is the exact activity that will bring you to the other side saying, “Whoa God, look what we did together. What else can we do?”
It is ground you end up dancing upon, spinning upon, jumping upon, cheering upon. It’s a place where you look at the vastness of new faith straight in the face. It reminds you that you were always safe, you always are safe and, with God, you always will be safe.
Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Ps. 37:3
Next time, when you stand on the cold bar of fear with your heart pumping, I don’t know, perhaps you think of my little guy and how much he could absolutely do it! Perhaps you just take a deep breath, move in, move arms and move forward knowing God has you.
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I’m one to use procrastination when I’m not fully trusting God in a situation. I’ve been putting off something big for months now out of fear. Thank you for this much needed inspiration and encouragement, Kelly. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, my friend.
I know how that can be, Candace. May we walk fearless into what God has for us.
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Swinging in trust! I love this Kelly. Bet I do see your little guy next time I hear God whisper, “Trust Me.”
Yes, my lil monkey will help you to swing into great risk! Go Susan go!
Letting your mind run laps. That’s me to a “T,” Kelly. Such a needless and stressful thing to do. Thanks for the encouragement today. Even when we face the unknown, God is at our side. He’s the same. We may not know how everything will turn out, but we do KNOW our Savior!
Amen! We know him. He is so good to us!
Your post takes me back to the monkey bar days with my boys. Good memories, and a good lesson and application today! Thank you!
Awe. Sweet memories for sweet days.
Beautiful! I love how the words we speak into others are often the ones that we need to hear over and over again in our own lives. Thank you for the lesson of trust today!
When we speak love, it is God’s exact words to us. So interesting.
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Wonderful post, Kelly! Your words are so incredibly encouraging! Hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving, Love! GOD bless you, beautiful friend! 🙂
Thank you Tai. You are such a wonderful encouragement.
Hi Kelly!
I love how God often uses our parenting to reveal His love to us personally!
Fear… it so often keeps us trapped in a self made box of limitations, instead of scaling across “the bars” of life, as God intended us to.
Many blessings to you friend! xo
YES Danise. Great point. May we go forth with him in strength.
Thank you for this encouragement this morning Kelly!
Thank you Katie!
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So Much Amen, my friend! And this: “Somehow, when we see the heights of new,
we forget the victories of old already proved.” Yep. That. xoxo
Thanks Karrilee!
Beautiful analogy, Kelly. Don’t you love it when the Holy Spirit whispers His counsel? This line danced to life for me: “For the truth is, the adventure which you stand, looking at, considering and questioning, is the exact one that God wants to use to encourage you.” It socks it to fear and offers endless encouragement. Amen.
I love how the Holy Spirit hits Kristi, it is amazing, isn’t it?
I just love the way God teaches us through those every day moments in life. I know I am going to learn more and more about how He loves me as my Father as I become a parent myself 🙂
He is so faithful in the small, if only we are looking.
I find that fear is all about perspective. When my perspective is in the wrong place, it’s easy to be fearful and not trust. But when my perspective is in the right place, I am courageous in Christ!
Yes. Amen. Such truth.
What a special moment between you, your son, and the Lord. Thanks for sharing and for hosting. Hope you have a wonderful week 🙂
I hope you do too Kelly. Thank you so much for joining.
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Oh my, yes…that blasted overthinking!
I hated the monkey bars! We used to play some sort of game where you tried to wrap your legs around the legs of your opponent (coming the opposite way on the bars) and tried to pull them off.
All of that aside, isn’t it interesting how we, as encouragers, often need the same encouragement that we dole out? I was singing a song in the car about allowing yourself to be loved by God, thinking of incorporating the song into a blog–since I love to encourage women to embrace who they are and accept God’s love–and the Holy Spirit spoke to me–“Do you believe that?” Do I? Do I really believe it? I love how God challenges our thinking!
Yes! It is funny that way, isn’t it, Mary? We need exactly what we say half the time, even though we know it to be so true. ha!
Kelly, I love the example of your son. I’ve let fear stop me before. But you’re right, when we trust Jesus, we can cross each bar He sets before us . . . because He’s right there with us. I’ve been the over-thinker. I’m working to let some of that go and simply trust. 🙂
Beautiful post!
May we both be bigger trusters and not so much thinkers!
Thank you for hosting. This is such a encouraging place to post. I am starting a link-up party Dec. 2 called Sitting Among Friends. Would love for you to join us and encourage others there. http://youresewtrendy.blogspot.com
Thank you for sharing this.
Kelly,
What an awesome reminder of how God will catch us as we go where He leads us…need to remember that as I work on my Soul Care devotional…Thanks so much 🙂
He will! He has it all covered.
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Beautiful example, Kelly. I love the Scriptures you shared. Very appropriate for some things I’m considering!
Kelly, thank you so much for these reminders of how we need to trust our heavenly Father. He loves us and He’s got us! Blessings to you! xo