Spiritual rail
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. –Matthew 14:28-29
If you have children of your own, you probably share some common concerns with me regarding their safety. We ensure upstairs widows are never opened up enough that they can accidentally fall through them. In the early years, we put safety latches on the lower cabinets so they could not access cleaning supplies and other dangers. We also placed caps in the wall outlets so their inquisitive natures won’t tempt them to stick things into the holes. Yet there is probably one thing that gives us more significant concern than all these things: the stairs.
All parents fear the tumbling sound of their child falling down the stairs, followed by a severe crash and uncontrollable crying that comes in gasps. So we do everything we can, such as putting up gates to help prevent this from happening. But there comes a time when the gates must come down, and they must learn how to walk the stairs themselves. So we teach them to be safe by holding onto the rail so they can stabilize themselves as they walk down the stairs. They quickly learn that while the stairs are dangerous at their age, the rail provides safety.
But I have noticed something recently about my son and our time on the stairs. When we walk down them together, he will reach out, take my hand, and immediately let go of the rail. His confidence is no longer in the rail but in the hand that he is holding. I also notice that he walks down the stairs with more confidence. When holding onto the rail, he takes each step with his right foot first and then brings his left alongside it, repeating this sequence until he reaches the bottom. This may be safer in his mind since there is less to think about when holding onto the rail. But when holding my hand, he usually walks, allowing his right and left foot to take turns being first to take a step. He can cover more ground much quicker when holding my hand, and his mind is eased because he knows he is no longer alone on his journey down the stairs.
Are you holding onto a spiritual rail in your life right now? Has Jesus bid you come to him in unfamiliar or troubled waters? Perhaps you can feel him tugging at your heart to let go of your comfort zone and trust him completely. You will find things will work out for your good if you trust him. The progress he intends for you to make will be much faster when you are walking by faith. So why not commit today to step outside of the place you feel safe and allow him to show himself mightily in your life?
