I’m a creature of habit. I love routine and a sense of what each day will look like. However, last week I celebrated another birthday and I realized how much more I am embracing, dare I say — change. Change can drum up feelings of dread if we look at the unknown or unpredictable as threats. But what if we looked at change through the lens of possibility? We just might see the promise of reaching our potential instead.

As I try new things (TNT), I experience its explosive effect on fear and mediocrity. My fears inform me of what I can’t do or shouldn’t do and the danger that awaits me if I ignore the warning.

But faith in the promise of Philippians 4:13 ignites something greater and louder in me. A “can do” through Christ in the face of obstacles and reservations dismantles my distrust. Particularly, when that distrust is aimed at what God is doing in and around me.

“Doubt douses the flame of what we can become by reminding us of what we have failed to become.”

Proof positive is this blog. If you were to ask my family and friends, they would tell you I enjoy a good conversation. But, I enjoy writing just as much. However, I was hesitant to commit to regularly posting my faith adventures. My pause for pursuing my passion was twofold: it is not just how people’s lives could be effected by what I write; it is also about how much I could grow as I write.

And there’s the payoff (and sometimes the push-back) for our taking a leap of faith — growth. Growth may feel unappealing if it requires us to become uncomfortable. But the alternatives to growth are stagnation and regression which are not appealing at all.

What growth awaits you as you TNT in your life? Something or someone is waiting for you to light the fuse of your imagination, your courage or your intellect. It may not be a blog, but it probably has been flickering inside you for a while. Doubt douses the flame of what we can become by reminding us of what we have failed to become. But faith fans the flame with redemptive possibilities as we try new things.

If old disappointments are your hindrance to embracing something new, here’s some good news. Joy overflows when we stop wallowing in condemnation and start walking out God’s correction. Let’s see, say, and seize the new thing God has placed in front of us. We might be surprised by the new levels of joy we experience in the soul.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. – Isaiah 43:18-20 NIV

What new thing are you willing to try?

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