As long as the sides are standing, we feel somewhat ‘secure’ within it’s walls. We feel relatively safe, even when circumstances are overwhelming, painful and threatening.
The familiarity of the ‘known’ keeps most of us from ever considering climbing to the top of a wall and peering over – gazing at the possibilities of life beyond our present perimeters. To think of knocking down a wall, or cutting a door in one side, is unthinkable, not an idea to be entertained. We might not be ‘safe.’
The unknown, the unexpected, the sides of a bigger box ‘out there’ are too much to comprehend. We don’t consider the possibility it might be pregnant with a wider, higher, deeper, and fuller life! So, immobilized by fear, we live most of life much like a goldfish in a bowl, the size of the bowl dictating the size and growth of the fish.
But fear doesn’t have to stop us. Even if we are afraid, we can still go ahead and move beyond the walls. We just do it anyway. We do it afraid. We do it nervously, awkwardly. We shake or sweat. We are not graceful or composed, but we do it.
And – the unknown once again becomes the familiar, bringing another sense of security with it. And we have grown! But it must not be for too long – for there are always bigger and bigger boxes.
“…fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)
