Remember the last time you went swimming? How did you enter the water? Did you put your toe in first to check the temperature, or are you the type to jump right in? I was at a baptism this weekend and it was real cool to watch the people enter the pool, some would move slowly, others got in quick. But one thing was the same, they all went in without much care for the temperature of the water. I mean it could have been freezing and they would have all still went in. Because every one of them were focused on the big picture.
You see when we’re focused on the big picture we don’t let stuff we go through to get there stop us. To often we lose focus of the big picture and we let the stuff along the way kill the vision or the dream. In the case of the people being baptized, they all knew that God wanted them be baptized. So despite the water, despite all the people watching or even being dunked in backwards, they all just jumped in. Life is too short to stand on the deck and watch everyone swim. What do you have to lose? So worst case scenario you fail. So what, it’s not the end of the world, just get back up and try again.
Why are we so scared to fail? I mean really, what’s going to happen if we do? We’re not going to die. We need to focus on the big picture. For me the big picture is life after this life and the work that God has for me to do while I’m here. It reminds me of a missions trip I took. I was flying with a group of men to Mexico. One of the men that I was with was scared of flying. With a nervous voice he asked me if I was scared to fly. My reply was “Jesus told me that I was going to Mexico to build a house , so I must be going to Mexico to build a house.”
Here’s why I believed that I was going to Mexico. Jesus and his disciples were in a boat and Jesus told them that they were going to the other side. As they were sailing Jesus fell asleep and a huge storm hit, the disciples started to panic and they cried out to Jesus, they woke him up and said that they were going to drown, Jesus got up and he calmed the storm, but the interesting part is what Jesus said next, he said, why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith. (Mark 4:35-40) You see when Jesus says we’re going to the other side, then we are going to the other side. No storm, no person, no circumstance can stop us. With Jesus leading and directing us there is no risk. So next time the storms of life come, remember, we’re going to the other side. Focus on the big picture and all the stuff along the way will be a piece of cake.