stand or leap ...

Driving through the mass of traffic that is Sydney just before Christmas, Dave quoted Peterson to Matt and I ... not word for word as is quoted below, but it was pretty close ... and it was helpful ...

"We need roots in the past to give obedience ballast and breadth; we need a vision for the future to give obedience direction and goal. There must be organic unity between them…what we require is obedience – the strength to stand and the willingness to leap, and the sense to know when to do which.”

Knowing when to make a stand, and when to take a leap isn't always easy ... but it's important.

I can see that the strength to stand means being convinced that I'm meant to be where I am "for such a time as this" ... that, despite my weaknesses and inhibitions, I've been placed here and perhaps through my presence, God will accomplish something beyond what I thought possible.

I can see that the willingness to leap means being able to trust that God can accomplish something beyond what I thought possible in this context without me ... and perhaps He'll use me in a different context altogether.

He is the One responsible for the work of His kingdom ... and He has the right to choose whether He does that work through me, or in spite of me.

Knowing when to make a stand, and when to take a leap isn't always easy ... but it's important ... it's important because if you get it wrong, it's irresponsible ... but if you get it right, it's faith - and there is a world of difference between the two ... because one is obedience, and the other is not.

The weird thing is, I might be confident of my obedience to God's call of "leap" when others around will think I should have stood ... there are times when my obedience might give off the aroma of irresponsibility, but perhaps it isn't faith without such a scent.

I guess now that I've taken a leap and am standing somewhere else, I need to trust Him with the place that I was standing before.

So, Dave, thanks for the quote ... I think.