The act of beginning boldly opens the door to a darkened room.
I’ve told you before–we weren’t prepared for the 1500-mile Mississippi River bike ride in 2011. Not enough training, insufficient planning. My longest-ever ride prior to Day 1 was 35 miles while training for an eight-week ride on which I needed to average 40 miles per day. We really didn’t know what we were doing, but we did one thing right.
Despite being scared to death, we committed and began without hesitation.
Almost immediately, something remarkable began to occur. People showed up at just the right times to offer help, route suggestions, and encouragement. They shared stories that validated our reasons for doing this crazy thing. Even detours and seemingly “negative” events seemed aligned to enrich the overall experience.
Day after day I cranked my bike 40, 45, 50 miles.
I don’t believe any of this was coincidence. I believe Jesus was with us on the dream of this ride and arranged a whole series of divine appointments for us along its path. I don’t know how that works. I don’t know how many “appointments” we missed because we weren’t attentive enough. I do know something changed when we started.
Just by stepping out in faith, it felt like we somehow triggered this sequence of prearranged divine appointments.
Beginning boldly initiates a stream of ideas, events, provision, and people. It’s like cracking open a door in a dark room to let in the light.
Sometimes, I think, we wait for the light as a signal to open the door. We wait for the right circumstances, the right people, ideas, resources, before we step onto the path. Maybe it works the other way around. Maybe we must open the door to see the light.
Perhaps everything’s all lined up, just waiting for you and me to take that first bold step.
We can’t know the nature of the path until we’ve traveled a while. Can’t know Jesus until we walk with Him a bit.
Begin boldly.