Just Jump

Galatians 1:11–24

Phrases that spoke to me today:
• set apart before I was born
• called me by his grace
• he who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy
• they glorified God because of me

Applying the Word to My Life:
Paul was set apart before he was born. It is easy to read that and build yourself an exemption. He was chosen in a way the rest of us are not. Of course he did all those things — he was Paul. We are just ordinary.

That is an excuse dressed up as theology.

The God who called Paul into existence also called you. Every person God brings into the world is set apart for something — a role, a relationship, a contribution that only they can make. The question is not whether you were called. The question is whether you will move.

When I was a kid, I remember standing on the diving board at the pool — scared to jump, not wanting to go. Standing there was worse than just doing it, but I couldn't make my feet move. Eventually I jumped. The first time was not great. I didn't get the breathing right and sucked in a bunch of water. But I learned. I was never the world's best diver, but eventually I could get off the board and swim — and that was plenty good for what I needed to do.

Paul got off the board. The direction wasn't right at first. He was moving hard against the church — tearing it apart, certain he was correct, zealous in exactly the wrong way. But he was moving. When God stepped in, there was something to redirect. The former persecutor became the proclaimer. The churches of Judea passed around the report: he who once tried to destroy us is now preaching the faith he tried to tear down. And they glorified God because of him.

Not because of Paul. Because of what God did with Paul's movement.

We see this in so many of our saints. They didn't get it right from the beginning, they didn't do it perfectly, but each one of them was willing to make that first move. Thomas needed his own experience to believe, Peter got out on the water but his faith ran out before he got there. Paul's first move was in the wrong direction entirely. They needed Christ to finish what they could not. But they had to get off the board first.

God can redirect movement. He cannot redirect stillness. The fear that keeps us frozen — wrong direction, wrong timing, not up to the task — is exactly what the enemy wants us to feel. Paul's story is the answer to that fear.

If someone asked me what they should do first, my answer would be simple: do anything, as long as it is something. Know you will not get it right from the start. Be open to guidance as you go. God does not need you to have it figured out. He needs you to have your feet moving.

The board is not the destination. Get in the water.

My Response for Today:
Today I will identify one place in my life where I need to stop waiting and just jump.