Launch

“To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth.  This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.”  

Oswald Chambers

I was visiting with a younger man and his wife on the phone last night.  He and I have spoken dozens of times, but only met on one occasion.  Though we have “known” each other only a few years, we’ve helped each other walk through some of the most aggressive moves and challenging times of our lives.  It was the first time I had ever spoken with her.

He and I are kindred spirits.  Our calls, even through the most difficult times, have been life-giving and essential.  We’ve fought for and protected one another.  

Like an advancing army on foreign territory…

I would take a little ground.

I would fight to hold that ground while he provided cover.

He would take some ground.

He would fight to hold it while I provided the same.

Our friendship is new, but deep and battle tested.

One of my favorite movies is the Cameron Crowe autobiographical Almost Famous. The movie’s protagonist reaches a place in the story where everything he could have ever hoped was possible, is becoming a reality.  He says over and over…

It’s all happening.

If you lean in real close to me when things are going really right, when all the things I’ve hoped would happen are being realized, you’ll probably hear me mutter the same.  

I was even mouthing those words last night as I spoke to my young friend and his wife.  For them, it’s all happening.  

While on the phone, I am offering encouragement, spending the experiential currency I’ve earned over the last few years, but my heart is raging.  I want to plead with them.  I want to say that they just need to trust me.  Cast all on the swelling tide of His purpose and get your eyes opened.  But these are the kinds of decisions that you have to make on your own.  It is a call that you have to answer for yourself.

In the middle of our huge life transition a few years ago, someone told my wife and I that they had a vision of us as a rocket in pre-flight…trembling on the launch pad, ready to take to the air.  This young couple’s rocket isn’t trembling yet, but all the things that tether it to the ground are falling away.  Their path forward is becoming incontrovertible.  They are readying to take flight.

It’s all happening.

Like toddlers venturing our first steps, our conversation was a little precarious before we found some footing and rhythm.  She was beautiful in every way.  Choosing joy over fear.  Fighting to trust the conviction that the Father is weaving into her and her husband’s heart.  Wanting to move only when and where He directs.  Trying not to count the cost.  Beautiful.

There is something else I feel I’ve earned the right to say, but I don’t:

Getting everything is going to cost you everything.  

To get everything the Father intends for you, you are going to have to surrender everything that you have turned to for safety and security.  In order to win the really big pot, you’re going to have to push all your chips to the middle of the table.

It’s all happening.

And it’s worth everything it will cost them.

I can’t wait to read the next chapter of their story.  It just keeps getting better and better.

• Do you know why God placed you here?
• Are you certain in all of your ways?
• Are you living with the breathless expectation of the “unknown” or “yet to be discovered"?
• Is your life like a rocket trembling in pre-flight?
• Would you be willing to risk everything to gain everything?