Adventure park revelations

A few nights ago the Lord brought a funny memory to my recollection and then showed me the significance of it in regards to my life (and maybe all our lives) right now.

Last year I went to an Adventure Park which is basically a playground in the trees. You are harnessed in and go through a series of obstacle courses-type trails of varying levels. Suspended in the air you climb ladders, go across bridges and zip-line from section to section.

The first couple of courses were fairly easy and I was starting to get a hang of it. Then for some reason, we decided to try what was the essentially the "black diamond" course....

To start off, you had to ascend a swinging ladder structure. A few rungs up, panic started to set in. I became painfully aware of my lack of upper body strength. Afraid I was going to have to be rescued by the workers and humiliated in front of the whole park, I cried out (loudly) something along the lines of "I don't have arms and I didn't even eat any breakfast!" ... A line which was both nonsensical and dramatic. I could feel the eyes of the little children looking up at me as I pathetically clutched the ladder. I really only had one of two options: go higher or quit.

It's not that I didn't possess the muscles needed to hoist myself up to the next level. It was that they were "underdeveloped", unfamiliar, not frequently utilized. It's not that I couldn't, it's that in the discomfort I panicked.

As clearly as I write this post, the Lord spoke to me through this comical memory. I grabbed my journal and began to scribble the words down as quickly as I heard them. This is what He said....

Come up.

It's time to advance.

It's time to go higher

It's time to take things to the next level.

Do not worry.

Do not fear.

I will not let you fall, you are harnessed in.

Trust me.

Turn your panic into joy.

When we look at the "course" of our lives so to speak...it can be easy to be overwhelmed and maybe even panic at all the uncertainty. I reflect on what my life's course looked like when I was young...it was so easy. But now, I am increasingly aware that there are challenges and obstacles which require special training. But God isn't asking me to survey the entire Adventure Park. He is asking me to just take the next step. To just stretch a little farther. To just go a little higher.

"I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us."

(Philippians 3:12-14)

I believe God is calling us all higher.

You can stay on the kiddie course, but He's got so many adventures in store if you just accept His invitation to advance.

I await with great anticipation for whatever the next adventure is, and the lessons I will inevitably learn along the way.

.....Oh and by the way....I did finish that course!