Dangerous Safety

Many test pilots have died because they were test pilots. Many people on commercial airline flights have been kept alive because test pilots tested the planes the people were carried by.

Some things we think the Lord is leading us into or out of don’t work. Some things that look scary work perfectly and bring great benefits. How should we decide what the Spirit of Jesus is leading us to do?

First, stop being afraid of failure. Jesus is not afraid of our failures. He seems to think on days that the best way to teach us anything is to let us make a mess of something and then show us how to recover and learn from it. Some of the best teaching experiences on listening to the voice of our Shepherd have come from learning that the voice we thought was His wasn’t. He seems to think learning from failure is as effective as learning from success.

Second, read the Scriptures. He can lead us easier in cases in which we learn from someone else’s mistakes. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11, the experiences Israel had between Egypt and Canaan happened, and were written down, to admonish us.

Third, pray before you do anything. Then, do what you believe is best. Even if it doesn’t make sense. If you are wrong, do better listening to the answer to your next prayer.

You are awesome. Do the dangerous work of living like it.