Petering
I'm in the middle of creating something new, and it's a decision I have felt divinely supported in. Even with this powerful assurance, my mind still cycles back to what I've seen and known in the past, then doubt creeps in, and then I start to sink and choke on the waters of "but what about..." It's become such a regular cycle, I've started calling this "Petering."
This is in reference to the story in the New Testament where Peter tries to walk on the water. In a (very tight) nutshell... he starts out successfully, with an assurance that he could do what Jesus was doing, and then begins to sink because he focuses on the waves instead of the walking. The realities that he knows (gravity, buoyancy) become louder than his faith, and he begins to sink. Then Jesus rescues him and helps him back to the boat. Note: I've written with much more detail and insight about this story, here.
The challenge of the information-abundant world we live in is that we have evidence all around us of the mortal realities that we navigate in life (like Peter's gravity and buoyancy). We have an infinite number of snapshots of things as they are (or have been), and only the vision in our heart/mind of what they can be. This vision takes a lot of faith and trust -- both of which are high-end commodities. But so worth the investment.
It's easy to forget, though.
...that's why I'm here!
Yes, we're invited to increase our faith and trust as we take our personal leaps. However, notice how we are not asked to leap without any help, or without a different set of tools, or without a different strategy. All of these pieces are available to us as part of the challenge.
And just like Peter, we'll take what we learned and do great things with it just like he did. I don't know about you, but I'm a lot more interested in that form of "Petering."
Keep walking. It will work.
