Right now, I believe that God is doing a new thing; universally and individually.
I experience this within my own life as I step out to have a go at new ventures. In the main, I find ongoing learning, stretching, developing and practising new skills to be a pretty enlivening and exciting business!
And then the anxiety makes its entrance!
This is also enlivening but not so exciting!
It is often accompanied by the taunts of the what if brigade!
Recently, as I was hanging out with God whilst in the midst of a rather anxious phase, I noticed something going on with the cat. Bear with me!
I’ve had this gorgeous little rescue feline for eleven years now yet this is the first time I have managed to get him a cat flap. I was thrilled at the prospect of him enjoying the freedom and flexibility this would afford him. No more sitting around waiting for me to let him in or out. He’ll love it, I thought.
Anyway, once the car flap was fitted, my attempts to introduce him to it appeared to evoke great fear. As in, despite my encouragement to investigate, he backed off pronto with a frightened look on his face.
Oh. That wasn’t what I expected or hoped for. This thing that I thought would bring him much enjoyment was far from having the desired effect.
I needed to rethink my game plan.
With the help of a piece of wood, I propped the cat flap open to entice him to use it, which he eventually did although initially with great reluctance.
With the approach of the colder weather, although September and August now appear to have swapped, I decided to remove the piece of wood to teach him to use the flap without it now that he was a little more familiar with it.
When he approached the door, he turned back to look at me. I went to him and gently lifted his paw to the door to show him how easily it would open. A process I had to repeat many times.
On this particular day when I was hanging out with God, whilst experiencing anxiety and doubt about my ability for the new ventures, I realised something as I repeated the process with the cat and the flap.
Whilst I was looking at the cat thinking, I absolutely know without any doubt that he has the ability to use this catflap for his own freedom and enjoyment. Yet I see the uncertainty and hesitation on his face as he nears the catflap and turns back to seek my assurance. He was not yet confident of his own capability. He needed me to believe for him and patiently support him over and over until he could do so unaided.
Wow, I thought. Is this what happens with us humans? We approach a new venture with caution, feeling unsure of ourselves and in need of others who see our potential when we struggle to?
I know I do.
And I imagined in that moment that perhaps the God who has called and thus equipped me for the new venture, knows that I can do it because He has put everything within me that is required to do so. He knows. And I could sense Him responding to me in the way I was responding to the cat; patient, reassuring, kind and loving.
I imagine that in the future I may experience the freedom and joy that could accompany the new venture once I relax in to it.
I’m not there yet.
Neither is the cat. Whilst he now uses the catflap regularly, he still very tentatively lifts one paw up followed by the other before gingerly stepping through it. There is no flying through it with great abandon. Yet.
We are both tentative in our explorations of the new thing.
As I reflect on these things, I am immensely grateful to the God who gives me such a sense of stability and care that I can actually take these new steps even when I have my doubts and fears.
In my profession, we call that a secure base.
And they don’t come any more secure than God Almighty.
This is further reinforced by those friends who cheer me on, encouraging me based on what they have already seen of me.
Without God and my friends, I could not take those first few tentative steps in to new territory.
So if you are approaching a new thing and you don’t yet know God, I would certainly recommend Him as way more than any Facebook ‘friend’!
And if you need more encouraging real friends, ask God to bring them, whilst practising being one to others.
God is doing a new thing.
Are you game?