Going Out On A Limb

But they believed. They knew that doing this would magnify their faith before God, that it was their common vision, and that God would be with them and was way better than those other false idols. So instead of moaping around and pondering whether or not this was true, they just did it.

Look at verse 14: So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.

They broke camp, they tore down their tents, they uprooted their lives to follow God. They went out on a limb. And they finally received what they were praying for. God did amazing things that day.

Soren Kierkegard, the 19th century Danish religious philosopher, tells a story about a town where only ducks live. Every Sunday the ducks would waddle out of their houses and waddle down Main Street to their church. They waddle into the sanctuary and squat in their proper pews. The duck choir waddles in and takes its place, then the duck minister comes forward and opens the duck Bible. He reads to them “Ducks! God has given you wings! With wings you can fly! With wings you can mount up and soar like eagles. No walls can confine you! No fence can hold you! You have wings. God has given you wings and you can fly like birds. All the ducks shouted “AMEN!” and they all waddled home.

God has offered us all we need. But are we complacent? Do we have a common vision? Has God called us to something great? Has he called us to fly? But do we choose to waddle?

Like Henry Ford, Beethoven, Walt Disney, Michael Jordan, the Israelites and others have we been discouraged – shot down from time to time? Did that put us into a life of complacency?

Well God is with us if we believe. He has given us wings to fly. No walls can confine us. And there is Joy in taking risks, in being daring. There is joy in using those wings. There is joy in going out on a limb for God.