Bide the danger

c.s lewis

Make your choice, adventurous stranger.

Strike the bell and bide the danger.

or wonder til it drives you mad,

what would have followed if you had.

Whilst I was living out in Cambodia I’d hear the words too often, ‘be careful’, ‘it’s not safe’, ‘watch out’, ‘don’t do that alone. It wasn’t that i’m daring or a rule breaker, naive or foolish, it’s that i’m not willing to let the voice of the world be the voice to set the standards of what I can and cannot achieve. I don’t allow heaven to bow to the standards of this earth, but demand this earth bow to heaven. There is no but, or can’t in the kingdom, nor is there an exception to impossibility. I’m not able to conquer because of who the world tells me I am, but because of who I now am in Him. 

I won’t allow my fear of what is deemed unsafe, disqualify those who lie on the other side getting a touch of heaven. Jesus never refrained entering a place because it appeared too dark, neither did He wait til He was bold enough or brave enough. Darkness doesn’t diminish as we wait, nor does fear dispel as we count the cost. Jesus knew that darkness would bow to Him, and so it was to the darkness He was drawn. 

He’s been teaching me that we can craft an environment by either fearing or having faith. It wasn’t that the promise to the Israelites that they would possess the promised land was eroding, it was the poor conception of who they were. It was fear that cost the Israelites the land, and it would take an entirely new generation of people to enter into it. The promises of God never change, but man’s fear can hinder the destiny He has for us. 

I really believe God is crying out to a people asking them when they’re going to believe who He says He is, He’s been asking me when I’m going to stop striving for the things He has already accomplished for me.  

God never came to comfort fear, He came to eradicate it. We must fight for a continual reminder of His perspective, and of His promises. We must fight for the love that casts out fear. I don’t pray for God to eradicate fear I just look to Him, the more I love Him the more daring I become. The more I know His nature, the more daring I become. It’s knowing His love for me and care, that makes me know He cares far too much about me to leave me, or abandon me. I can only come to the place of true fearlessness when I know how much I am loved, because I am and will be willing to pay any price. I am assured in the fact the world cannot touch me. 

Caleb possessed the promise because He knew who His Father was. He trusted despite circumstance, He fixed His eyes on the fruit and not that which would cause fear. It wasn’t that Caleb didn’t see what the others saw, He just chose to fix His eyes on something greater. He has been teaching me to find the Caleb’s in my life and surround myself with them, and those like Jonathan’s armour bearer, my bible hero, the one’s that echo the voice of my Father in heaven. Whatever is in your heart- do it. GO GO GO. The one’s that champion me, to run faster, run greater, whatever the situation looks like. The one’s that tell me to defeat an entire army with one sword. Who are your Calebs?

Lacking fear doesn’t make us careless or reckless. It means we burn with the capacity He created us to.