God has extravagant plans for our lives, but for most of us, such as myself, get overwhelmed in the fear of stepping out in faith. Recently, I was teaching a reading lesson to my daughter that used a cartoon illustration of baby birds in their nest and their mama urging them to fly out. The mama bird was telling the baby birds that it was time to leave, but the baby birds kept telling her, “no, no, no, no, no!” As silly as this little cartoon seems, I felt God whispering to my heart, “You are like those baby birds. I keep telling you it’s time to leave the nest and step out in faith, but you want to stay safe, cozy, and warm inside your nest because you are valuing your comfort over My plan.”

Then I felt Him whisper another truth, “envision now that these baby birds are eagles. If they won’t leave the comfort of their nest, they never will know what it feels like to stretch out their mighty wings and soar.  They will completely miss their life’s purpose, and they will never understand why I created them to be eagles.”

I am learning that sometimes we must take that first step in obedience scared to half to death. We, also like the baby birds, may look down from our nest and see how far down there is to fall. However, in His mercy, God is gently whispering to us that the fear of falling should not keep us from believing that with His help we can begin soaring! Isaiah 40:31 tells us, “but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

As Christ-followers, we are ALL called to mount up with wings as eagles, but how often do we forget this command and refuse to leave the comfort of our nests? God calls each of us to soar, but it is our choice to rise up and obey in order to be the eagles that He created us to be.  Maybe the most significant obstacle hindering our obedience, yet also our most significant act of surrender, is merely obeying in faith and taking the first step out of the comfort of our nest.

Where is God asking you to obey, but you are afraid to step out in faith?