Brave Belief

 Eyes skim across expansive whiteness and I feel the heart-beat slow. There is something strangely and wonderfully quiet about winter - something that calls the soul to take in the peace as, all around, the earth stands hardened and frosted, stripped bare of green life. Dormant and cold. 

I've come to this place often but, for some reason, only in the summers. Only when the conditions were "right" did I venture up this way. But today, I'm taking in the same space in a fresh way. One would never guess that this exact location...normally buzzing with all manner of people and activity...could become so hushed, so still. 

I wonder how many times in my life I never bothered to step forward in faith simply because it felt inconvenient. Because I just wanted life-conditions to be "right." 

How many times did I maybe miss a gift for simply waiting until the path was clear? Simply refusing to wade through some inclement weather because I thought it wasn't worth the trouble... 

I'm amazed at how beautiful it still is: snow-covered mountains touching white-sky and blanketed by a pure, untouched expanse. Months earlier, this very lake was the site of kayakers, bikers, hikers, and campers with hardly a parking spot to be found. Now, it appears as though only a brave few have decided the winter-trek was worth it. Skiiers glide along lakeside trails, public use cabins wait for adventurous types to pack their things and come stay awhile, and a communal game of hockey draws skaters onto the dark ice. 

It's often this way on the life-journey - those who often grow the most, to have their souls expanded, are the ones who are willing to encounter all seasons. Not everyone will and the winter-crowd will likely be smaller than the summer ones who only want their own comfort. God has something special that awaits those who endure the heart-winters for the sake of what lies on the other side. 

It's strange - this phenomenon... that water depths which once lay wide and long now sit hard-cold, allowing for a walk out onto its surface. I've always stayed on the shoreline. Now, I'm staring down fears to walk across it and see a view I've never beheld. Funny how - even when you know you're held up - you still wonder...

I call to mind all the many times God has presented His people with Peter moments - times when we've been asked to get out of the boat of our own security and to face the waves... to believe that Grace can and will cause us to survive. Beneath the never-ending snow-blanket, I feel icy slickness and I realize that one can never move forward - can never discover new aspects of trust - if one isn't willing to run the risk of falling, of getting hurt along the way. 

All places worth experiencing with the Savior present us with choices as to whether we have faith enough in our being led that we are okay enduring the discomfort it may bring en route there. 

Somewhere under winter boots, the water still trickles...still moves. And He also never stops moving. Never stops calling us further out into areas of no-escape so that we can taste what it means to be upheld. 

Friend stops to take a picture, and I stretch my arms outside. This is how you fight your fear-battles - you do it with your hands lifted high, with your heart open to receive what God gives. 

At the end of the day, I've sustained some scrapes and bruises from where I tumbled. I've got torn-up boots that finally used up their final adventure and need replacing. But deep down, those are small prices to pay for lungs filled with the air of Life. A wind-beaten face is merely a sign that you pushed through. 

As I emailed a friend the other day: no journey that leads you closer to God and more in touch with yourself is ever wasted. And no winter treks that force the soul to depend and resolve to dig deep are useless. 

Jesus still draws us out into wild places where trust can be tested and heart can be tried. Where the lasting lessons of endurance, perseverance, and faith can be exercised and increased. Beginning a new year with new challenges offers us yet another guarantee that uncertainty will come and life is unpredictable, that more unknowns lie ahead and opportunities will be given to step into the slippery, the fearful. New chances to raise the hands in worship, believing that we are always loved, always helped, always held up.