When I climb to the top of the highest point of my life and look out over the vast landscape before me, instead of awe and joy and overwhelming gratitude for all God has done to bring me to this holy, beautiful place, sometimes all I feel is fear. Even though deep down, I know I have been carried by God to this very moment, and I know by heart that He will never leave me or forsake me, seeing the sheer cliffs, the dark forests, and the violent waves that crash against the shore can make me forget. I do not know where He will ask me to go next. But I know He will take me down some roads I did not wish to travel.
Fear comes and asks me for my life. I refuse. I will not waste this precious, sacred breath uttering what ifs, casting my vision to a darkening horizon and blind to the beauty that is all around me.
I will not let fear set the boundary lines for my life. I’m tired of listening to him whisper in my ear how much love and pursuing the life that stirs my soul is going to cost me. I’m tired of hearing him tell me to take the safer, easier road, to keep my life small and manageable and under control. I will not go back, and I will not stay here. I don't like the kind of life that fear offers me. I want a life that is rich and full and brimming over with stories of God’s goodness and faithfulness. A life that is bordered only by the deep, wide, long, and high love of God. And I want to inhabit my life as far and as fully as he will allow me to travel.
Oh God in heaven, grant me the grace to live a fearless life.
Dear friends,
I am praying this prayer over your life today. May God richly bless you and show you that He is truly with you, and that He will never leave or forsake you. For all who are walking in dark valleys, may you feel the peace of his presence and may his love light the way before you. For all who are on the verge of a scary descent down the mountain, may God give you strength and sure feet. I pray that this week you will see God at work, that your life would be brimming over with stories of God’s goodness and faithfulness, and that He will grant you the grace to live a fearless life.
Love,
Mackenzie
New Podcast This Week:
When life is a series of never-ending struggles, when the work is never done, when it all seems drained of joy and beauty, then what? How do we continue to inhabit our lives with grace and keep searching for God in all of it? If you feel a that you have lost control, or that you are in over your head, I hope you will find some comfort in these words. (Recorded and posted this week.)
A Read-Aloud of Today’s Post:
From the Family Archive:
Though you have hung your harp on the willows, and weeping may last for the night
Remember that joy will come in the morning, so awake now, my song and arise…