I was thirty feet in the air on a three foot by three foot wooden platform with my toes hanging off the edge. Before me was a 500-foot-long cable that I just happened to be tied into. This was a place I had never been before. Standing beside me was a young man telling me how awesome this was going to be and how very safe I was with all of this equipment that tied me to the cable. It was a zipline and I had never experienced one.

I love a challenge. But at that moment, standing there looking out over the valley below me, my legs still shook.

I have stood in that place many times. It’s not necessarily on a platform thirty feet in the air, but I’ve stood on the edge of the unknown, hearing the voice in my heart saying, “Just take a step, Kori, and trust me.”

It’s the voice of my Savior.

He has spoken to my heart many times and asked me to do things I wasn’t so sure were a good idea. I’ve been nervous, anxious, and honestly, sometimes I have been disobedient. I didn’t step.

We stand in that place over and over throughout our lives, knowing God is directing us to do something. In those few seconds, we have an opportunity to choose. We can choose to do the two things God expects of us or we can choose to walk away.

In Psalm 23, a Psalm we have read over and over, we find what God expects of us. Here is the Psalm:

In verses one through three, we find a list of all that God does for us. He is our Shepherd. He makes, leads, refreshes, guides–God does so much for us. It’s through these things that God grows us and challenges us.

Verse four gives us the two things He expects of us. It says, “Even though I walk…I will fear no evil.” If we simplify it a bit, He expects two things of us: Obedience and Courage.

1. Obedience – do the things He calls us to do

2. Courage – do those things with our whole heart

He gives us comfort and encouragement in the last two verses and He encourages us to remember what He has already done. He has an amazing track record of faithfulness.

I stood on the platform that day and stepped out. It was awesome, flying through the air 500 feet till someone caught me at the other end. Did I do it again? You bet!! So many times I even lost count. I ended becoming part of the staff and running the zipline. I came to admire the patience of that young man. No doubt there were many he just wanted to push off the platform as they stood there forever.

In real life, we stand on the edge of the platform every day. God calls us to talk to our neighbor, encourage our battle buddy, take on a challenge we aren’t so sure about, give our marriage another try, serve in our community. He calls us to big things and small things, but He definitely calls us. We stand at the edge of the platform and we choose. Do we walk away or do we step out into the unknown and follow Him? Do we choose disobedience and fear or obedience and courage?

That step of faith can change us and change our lives.

The slide down the zipline is awesome because it is there, in the place of obedience and courage, that we find freedom.

What is God calling you to do today? What causes you to hesitate in obedience?

If you haven’t done so, join us in our Bible Study of Wisdom as we talk about these very things.
Obedience and courage, my friends. It is so worth it. If we all just do that, together we can impact a world.

Kori Yates loves adventure and her former life as a Marine and ongoing stint as an Army wife has given her just that. Desiring to bring together Christian military women and impact a globe for Christ, she has helped launch Planting Roots. Through events, online Bible study, and a social media community, their prayer is for revival among military women. Kori is also an author (Olive Drab Pom-Poms) and speaker, as well as a homeschooling mom of two amazing kids and wife to one awesome Soldier.