A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT: I'M GOING TO PUSH YOU OVER THE EDGE

COME TO the EDGE

"Come to the edge"
"I can't, I'm afraid"
"Come to the edge"
"I can't. I will fall"
"Come to the edge"
And I came.
And He pushed me.
And I flew. 
​by Guillaume Apollinaire
The Lord spoke these words to me one morning "I am going to push you over the edge". When I first hear these words, I thought it was the devil threatening me. Because surely The Lord would not do such a thing. But as the day went on God assured me that it was Him and mysteriously (Lol) I came upon the poem "Come to the edge".

What does this mean, though? On the edge of what? Depending on the way you look at it could be a negative situation or momentous. There is a picture frame on my wall with a quote that says' "Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away". I have only one picture in that frame and it has been on my wall for nearly three years. My desire is for the moments that take my breath away. But have I been hindered by my fears, doubts, by the opinions I have of myself or even what others may think about me? Lord, is it too late to take that leap? Bid me once again! And again until I get it right.

One of the best references, I can think of is when God challenged Peter to walk on the water. Peter said, ”Bid me to come to you". At the invitation, Peter stepped out after a little while he began to sink. Peter cried "Lord help me". The bid to come to the edge means, "I want you to tread on high, difficult, places that will take courage and strength to achieve. But all for my glory! It might start to be a small thing, I believe this is the reason God said to Zechariah "do not despise the day of small beginnings". But it will morph into confidence in God, that He can do anything. God wants to do just that! So He calls again "come to the edge".
Scared as you know what.....? When we visited the Grand Canyon, and Grand it is, I could look from afar and see the creative, magnificent power of God - A fool has said in his heart there is no God. But as I tried to approach the edge fear gripped me. So I just walked only so close and every once in awhile I would get the courage to get close to the edge and look over. But, that is not what we should be looking at, what God wants to show us is not the depth of the situation you are in nor where you think you are going - that is the fear! The push is to propel you to a place where you never have been before.

I attended a meeting for Christian Entrepreneurs and the speaker asked, I thought a profound question that sticks with me even to this day. He asked, “what would your life look like if you had nothing to hide, nothing to prove, nothing to fear, and nothing to lose. When you can answer these questions, I believe you can do great exploits for the Lord. But what if the realization comes when the Lord pushes you over the edge. The first question “come to the edge’ is the bidding or the calling, just like the Lord said to His disciple Peter. But remember Peter asked to come, “Lord if this is you, bid me to come to you”

All I know is I want to fly, it hurts and is frustrating to stay where I am - Lord Do Something with me! One would say Lord teach me to fly, but you are beyond that point, now, because you have been walking around the edge too long. We can learn so much and still not be able or willing to go to places we have never gone before. We would be trying to do research, how high is the mountain, what do I need to gain the altitude to fly over to the other side, what equipment will I need or where ever am I going, a matter of fact where am I going? When will I land? How long will it take and on and on it goes until we are petrified and unable and unwilling to move? So the push is necessary! When you ask some people “How did you learn to swim, did you take lessons” and they respond ‘No, my father or brother threw me in the deep part of the pool and I had to swim”. The other option is to somehow get out of the pool and never get near water again.
​
God will use circumstances, expected and unexpected events to push you over the edge. A friend and I always say God has to constrain and push you to the point where you would have to more and in some cases be willing to move. Now, this may sound strange, an oxymoron, but Just now an image of a giant slingshot pulled back to its breaking point and released came to mind.  God will sometimes restrain and hold you back, then unexpectedly release, no propel you over the edge. Constraining is a place of discomfort.
When I read the poem again I notice that the subject flew because He came. He surrendered himself at the request “come to the edge”, scare, apprehensive but yet he came. It reminds me of a quote taken from John Wayne, the actor “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway”. And I came, He pushed me, I flew!