January 27, 2014
“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.”
Hebrews 11:8
Stepping Out
It is fascinating to me how much of the mind-set in our culture is devoted to the establishment of boundaries…a line marking the limits of an area…a dividing line, or something that indicates a limit, an edge: national borders, state lines, county lines, city limits, neighborhoods, athletic boundaries…in bounds/out-of-bounds… territory, airspace control boundaries, district lines, extremities, frontiers, no-fly zones, school zones, ends, demarcation, surface, shoreline, skyline, margins, parameters, thresholds, minimums, maximums, precincts, fence-lines, property lines, easements, denominations and doctrine, my space, your space, face-book, credit-limits, family boundaries, personal boundaries…and of course, comfort zones…whew…What or whom are we trying to keep inside…or what or whom are we trying to keep out?
And we seem to spend a lot of time restricting ourselves to operate, to create, to breathe, to prosper, to live within the self-imposed, nature imposed, government-imposed, culturally-imposed, socially-imposed, boundaries. We often hear it described as living “in the box or in our comfort zone.” And many of these limits are healthy and for the protection of individuals and society and I am so thankful for these gifts of blessing in our world…many of which afford privacy and freedom…
But, something stirs within the heart of a Child of the Most High God, a Believer, and a Follower of Jesus…and some of the boundaries, the lines, the separation, the limits, the expectations, become restrictive; they become confining, suppressive, and even contrary to what our Lord’s intention is for our lives…for abundant lives…
When is it time to Step Out…To Open the Gate…or Climb Over?
I am sure that every parent of two or more children has experienced the excitement of the establishment of personal territories within the home. As I look back, I remember that we had neutral territory throughout our home…with the exception of bed-rooms. Our children shared the territory in our home, but their bed-rooms were their own, very private domain. (But mom and dad were always welcome to visit, always by knocking first! And mom was always welcome to put up laundry in the room, a clearly understood rule, giving access to a room that we owned anyway, but we gave the rights to the child, protected from other siblings) Our children not only peacefully co-existed, but prospered in work and play…MOST OF THE TIME…As they grew toward middle-school years, the peace was definitely disturbed when friends visited and the entertainment of the evening was often the attempt to infringe on the territory of the sibling. It is funny that they never tried to perpetrate the boundaries unless the room was occupied by their sibling…and the game was on…Most of the time, it was all in fun…harmless…however, there were a few exceptions…when the boundaries were breached and confrontation echoed through-out the evening in our otherwise, peace-filled country home…
I remember one evening vividly. Bill and I were watching a movie and our children were entertaining themselves and Adam’s friend upstairs in their “their own territories”, or so we thought. Suddenly, the peace and quiet was interrupted by a shrill scream and then the slamming of doors and of more screams. In our great wisdom, we associated those screams with our female child…We both leapt from our chairs to dash upstairs to protect our eleven year-old daughter from the “someone” who had invaded her territory and perhaps had caused her physical harm. We had no idea what we would find as we rounded the hallway corner…
What we saw stunned both of us…our moment of concern and anticipated despair, turned into hysterical laughter as we stood watching as Christie repeatedly was attacking the perpetrator of her space with a pillow-case filled with her shoes. The poor young man, Adam’s unsuspecting friend had no idea what was attacking him, but the screams were coming from this frantic thirteen year old boy. As we called Christie off of him and as he retreated into Adam’s room, we overheard Adam giggling; he knew that his friend totally under-estimated the skill of his sister to defend herself and her territory and her comfort zone!
Yes…boundaries…territories…are worth defending when they are conducive to improving the quality and the integrity of life, certainly law-abiding citizenship is imperative (while adhering to God’s precepts)…but there is a time when an individual meets the challenge of determining which of these lines of demarcation lend themselves to God’s best…and which ones prevent the abundance that God promises to those who choose to Step Out of the man-kind imposed box…
When is it time to Step-out…To Open the Gate…To climb Over?
This is the season for new babies and growing families. Yes, the number of our precious grandchildren is increasing year by year, and our children’s friends are having babies…and so the season is a time to celebrate new life with baby shower after shower…Yesterday, I attended the shower of a dear friend preparing to have her first child…a baby boy! I remembered the day that I celebrated the anticipated arrival of our first child…The merchandise has definitely changed…but the expectant mother still moves the same, sits the same, waiting impatiently for the arrival of the first baby… New Life…I cannot help but to reflect and to remember the season of our life when our babies were new and our little family was being established and designed. I chuckle now because what I said I would do, I did not do, and what I said that I would not do, I did do…and the adventure began! Family Life!
I have been asked by some young moms what I considered to be defining principles that we used in our family structure. While thinking about the possible answer to this particular question, I sat down and began to read through some journals that I had periodically written in during some of our parenting days. (I say periodically because I do not want to mislead anyone to think that I recorded daily…because I did not…I’m just thankful for the days that I remembered to) Habakkuk 2:2 reminds us… “And the Lord said to me, “Write my answer on a billboard, large and clear, so that anyone can read it at a glance and rush to tell the others.” I have discovered the value of recording experiences so that I can remember, but also so that lessons learned can be shared with others. And as I continued to read, I realized what had been some of the most defining principles, experiences, and applications which had shaped and dramatically changed our family.
“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.”
Hebrews 11:8
Bill and I both spent most of our childhood years and all of our teen years in Waco. Even though when we married, we traveled extensively because of his career, we still called Waco our home. And when we began our family, we chose to remain in the same city. Within a few years, we moved our little family to a suburb in the country and after ten years, moved once more to the ranch in a rural community. It was during these years that God began to challenge us in our personal lives as He challenged our boundaries, the influences in our lives, the self-imposed expectations, the social expectations, the cultural expectations, even family expectations, our “religious” comfort zones…
It was during these years that I was involved in a precept Bible study in the book of Daniel. And it was during this time that God radically changed me, changed my life; The absolute Truth of His Word penetrated my heart; and the gift of miraculous faith was born into my soul…As we studied what it looked like to be a God-follower who was totally and sacrificially committed…I began to evaluate my life based on the precepts of scripture as we read and studied…peeling back the layers, one at a time…
I realized that in so many areas in my life, I had attached myself to a fence…not willing to land on either side…I had established barriers and walls to secure an identity, attempting to please people and causes… Striving to meet social and cultural expectations…and I found myself imposing these expectations on my children…in their education…in their extra-curricular activities…in their social lives…even in our church life…
God shook me up and rocked my world! Bill was out of town and I lay awake one night…desperate for relief from a virus or flu…but as I sat thinking and praying, I realized that my greatest need was not restored health from whatever bug I had acquired, because the return to normal life did not sound at all appealing or fulfilling (As wonderful as my life was). I found myself thinking about and being exhausted by the constant and perpetual merry-go-round life-style that I had created. God began to stir my heart…What boundaries and walls of expectations had I imposed on myself? What was I demanding from myself? What was God asking of me and from me? As a woman? As a wife? As a mother? I began to sob from deep in my heart, because I discovered that my life was capsizing…My master had become the comfort zone that I had created for myself as I held onto it with a desperate grip… instead of allowing The Almighty Master to take hold my life…to guide me…to teach me…to establish my territory according to His will and His purpose.
But, something stirs within the heart of a Child of the Most High God, a Believer, and a Follower of Jesus…and some of the boundaries, the lines, the separation, the limits, the expectations, become restrictive; they become confining, suppressive, and even contrary to what our Lord’s intention is for our lives…for abundant lives…
When is it time to Step-out? The First Step…
“…He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then He sat down and taught…” Luke 5:2, 3
The First Step for me was the Truth…It was being honest with God…and being willing to let Him be honest with me. The First Step was the realization that my self-imposed boundaries, and expectations, and comfort zone, were absolutely diametrically opposed to what He intended for me and for my family. The Truth! And yes, the old adage is true, “The truth hurts”…but the Truth is life-giving and it truly sets you free (John 8:32) It was the First Step in my freedom from the bondage and the prison of my self-imposed territory and boundary and expectation…my comfort zone…which was dictating mediocrity in my life…The first step was listening to what the Lord had to say to me as He taught me the Truth…
When is it time to Step Out? The Next Step…
“When He finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Luke 5:4, 5
I vividly remember the day that I sat in front of my children’s school waiting for them to be dismissed from their half-day of school. I had my Bible study on the book of Daniel that morning and had a sense of urgency pressing on my heart. I felt compelled to pray…As Jesus spoke the words, “Put out to the deep water”, I felt myself being drawn deeper and deeper…I knew at once that I had to commit…I had to climb down off of the fence on which I had spent so much of my life….I had to be all in …I had to be totally submerged and immersed and committed where there was absolutely …No turning back… And I remember the moment that God was so real that I intentionally chose to step out into the deep…the deep of trusting Him and being willing to live within the territory that He established for me…Discarding the comfort zone that I had defined for myself…Being willing to let down my nets, for a catch because He said so…And I, let go of it all…
He began to remove restrictions…He began to replace them with more of His order and more of His presence…He lead us to re-define our territory as a family…to re-define our goals…to re-define our parameters…to release empty expectations and to “move us out of the box” in which we had uncomfortably settled. What transpired, was change. He changed me.
When is it time to Step Out? The Next Step
“…Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him.” Luke 5:10, 11
Jesus tells us to not be afraid. Even though we do not know, cannot know, should not know, where He leads us, He tells us to not be afraid. Some people followed the Christ out of curiosity…others followed Him because they perceived Him as a threat…and others followed because He is Truth…Peter followed Him because He believed…
The next step for me, out of the box or the comfort zone, was to follow Him, to really, consistently, tenaciously…to search intentionally for the ways that I and my little family could literally and specifically live according to the territory which He gave to us as a family. I began to ask Him to show me how to live in an authentic, new, Truth-inspired, Life-filled way…following Him…moment by moment…breath by breath…
I mentioned the journal…As I read over some of the entries; I was reminded how we literally made the Word of God our compass for rearing our children. Although we failed as parents many times in our responses, and our children certainly were not perfect in their responses, God’s Word never failed us or our children. Bill and I decided to accept God’s word as the Absolute Truth and to use it as our definitive and ultimate authority. When the world screamed at us the risk of failure in some area…we trusted God more…
To my son:
June, 1991
One night when you were eight years old, just before bed we talked about how important prayer is and how much God wants us to tell Him goodnight. We talked about these words. “Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1
Sunday, October 26, 1991
You had a problem with anger and controlling it. I made you go outside and ride your bicycle. Then we sat down with the Bible and read, “Be angry and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Ephesians 4:26 We talked about the importance of handling anger the way that God teaches us to. His ways are the best.
To my daughter:
October 27, 1991
You said your prayers and on your own, you asked God for self-control. You understood why self-control was important to God. We had studied the verse that day, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…Galatians 5:22-23
May, 1994
One day after Sunday school, you spent time thinking about the importance of forgiving….The next day, you and your best friend got into an argument…We were able to discuss the scripture, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Matthew 6:14
“Remember my words with your whole being…Teach them well to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on your doors and gates so that both you and your children will live a long time in the land the Lord promised…” Deuteronomy 11:18-21
We asked God to show us how to live by His precepts…How to be devoted to His intention for us. We committed to begin our days with a time of praise and prayer and Bible study as we began to home-school. We also committed to believe what His word said about His intention and His purpose and His design, no matter what the world said to us. There were times when I would listen with one ear to what the world said about anticipating and expecting certain behaviors in teenagers. I would have to re-focus on what God’s plan and design was for the lives of our children, according to His Word…and that is where we would Step! That is where we would camp as we intentionally believed and embraced God’s precepts for our children, for our family.
Stepping Out
And through this, we found a new, refreshing, authentic, territory which provided joy beyond measure…numerous challenges, accompanied by our best friend and companion, The Lord Jesus.
Yes, it cost some friendships, some relationships, some activities, some social events, some business deals and activities…but there is no way to measure the treasure and the eternal investment of the opportunity to Step Out into the Lord’s Promise and His Truth.
For many of our young friends, and for our children and their families, they have Stepped Out of their worldly comfort zones to acknowledge and to embrace the King of Kings as the ultimate authority in their lives…and I am so thankful. They are already sold out and deep into the territory which God has purposed for their family. But for Bill and me and others like us who had to find our way…
Our Almighty Lord is willing and able to beckon and to lead those who are bound by the self-imposed, socially imposed, culturally imposed boundaries…the comfort zone…which breeds mediocrity, at best, in the life of a Believer; and He is able to lead the Believer to the deep…to teach…to love…to empower and to equip and bless with His territory, designed lovingly and purposely and eternally…
And God’s boundaries and His territories are worthy of defending…they are worthy of the battle…just as our daughter fought off the perpetrator in their childhood game…
We will Step Out and trust…He is Truth
We will Step Out into His deep…He is our Savior
We will Step Out and Follow…He is our Shepherd
Stepping Out…into His Promise….wherever it leads us, no turning back!
May you find Abundant Joy as you Step Out,
