No-doubt steps are rarely meaningful steps at all

A lot of us don't get to places in our lives that would be good for our lives to get because we are waiting for that elusive moment of no-doubt. We are waiting to know this next step is the right step, no doubt about it.

There are times, for sure, that doubt is a warning sign. Don't take that step, danger ahead.

But more often than not, doubt is an invitation. It's a calling. It's an opportunity for us to dismiss the the destructive voices of our past in favor of the more hopeful voices of our future. It's a chance to step out of our emotions and not forever live hijacked by them.

There's a popular bible story. The disciples are in a boat, in the middle of a storm, and Jesus appears. Walking on water.

Jesus calls Peter to step out of the boat and walk toward him. The bible tells us:

Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

I wonder what Peter's answer was. Why DID he doubt? Why do WE doubt?

We doubt because this wind looks like a storm I've been through before, and I don't want to go through a storm like that again.

I've been rejected before, I don't want to feel rejected again.

I failed at starting a business before, I don't want to feel like a failure again.

I got hurt the last time I let someone know who I am, I don't want to feel hurt again.

Someone criticized my writing the last time I shared it, I don't want to feel criticized again.

You know what I love about the Peter story? Peter didn't drown. He was full of doubt, full of hesitation, full of fear; maybe he'd been through some bad storms in his past, but Peter felt doubt as an invitation and not a warning.

I've come to know, when looking back on so many of the limiting doubts in my life, doubt was often my future suggesting this thing right here won't work because that thing back there didn't work.

Anyone who has lived long at all knows the world often feels like a giant force field standing in front of us as a constant threat to our forward progress. The world often sounds like a booming voice, screaming, "don't even think about getting out of that boat."

Peter got out of the boat, and he didn't drown. In fact, he found the hand that most wanted to help him get beyond that giant force field in life. The hand that wanted to show him hope and opportunity and promise.

What helping hands, hope, and promise are you not stepping into while refusing to get out of the boat?

What emotions are you drowning in and not walking on and through?

What doubts are you hearing as warnings that are actually invitations?

Maybe this is the perfect week to discover the value in a step. Not a step free of doubt, but one absolutely full of it. Because the reality is, if you're taking steps that are all no-doubt steps, chances are you aren't going anywhere.

Chances are you're actually spending more time in the boat than you realize.