In the dappled light of the Amazon rain forest, a muscled man grips a rope like vine and, swinging easily into open air, lets go only to reach out and grasp another that easily carries him across the leafy expanse. There is no hesitation or doubt; that was his plan all along.
This may be my poor visualization of the mythic Tarzan, but it is meant only to paint a picture of where God sometimes calls us to go. And, no, I do not mean the Amazon rain forest.
We are often called to “swing out and let go.” We are called to faith: believing what we cannot see; trusting the Planner before we know the plan. The vine-swinging Tarzan has been a mental picture of God’s request for me to let go before I’ve grabbed on to the next thing. We see this picture of stepping out in faith, of required action before revealed plans, throughout the Bible.
Genesis 12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”
Daniel 3: 14-18 (King Nebuchadnezzar spoke) “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?. . . . But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Matthew 4:19, 20 “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” And at once they left their nets and followed Him.
That’s some heavy duty vine swinging there.
Leave your home, your people, your culture, your country, and I AM will tell you where to go. Worship God only, and I AM will provide for you through the fires. Leave your job—the one thing at which you are skilled—and come do what I AM asks you to do.
There are those moments, those decisions, even those seasons of life, where we are called as followers of Christ to follow Him in a way that tests not His character, but our BELIEF in His character. Do we believe the great I AM?
In the Old Testament, He is the Most High God, the Creator, the One Who Sees, the Shepherd, the Healer, the All-Sufficient One, and the One Who Provides. In the New Testament, Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, the Living Water, the Good Shepherd, and, appropriately, the True Vine.
Are you in a season of “swinging out?” Are you being called to take a step of faith and let go of a fear, a worry, a dream, a relationship, a child, a job, a home, or a church, and you’re not sure what’s on the other side of that expanse? Where you’re going to land? You can be sure that the great I AM, the True Vine, is there in that space. It is the unchangeable, unwavering character of I AM, our Abba Father, to be in that space that is unknown to us. Do you trust Him enough to “swing out?”
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Corrie Ten Boom