Scripture: John 10:10 (NRSV): “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Reflection:
There is a particular kind of hesitation that is not the same as unbelief. It is the hesitation of someone who understands the invitation clearly, who has turned it over enough times to know what it would require, and who has not yet moved. Not because the invitation is unclear. Because the cost is. And underneath the cost, if we are honest, is usually a question that has been functioning as the final word: Can I afford this? Can we afford this? That question sounds like wisdom. It sounds like responsibility.
The path the Spirit has been showing is not a plan. That distinction is worth holding. A plan is something you map in advance, something that allows you to see the whole route before you commit to walking it, something that keeps the unknown at a manageable distance. A path is different. A path unfolds as you move. It requires that you take the next step before the one after it becomes visible. The psalmist did not say: you show me the destination. The psalmist said: you show me the path of life. Which means the Spirit’s guidance is not a blueprint handed over in advance but a presence that moves ahead and calls you forward, step by step, into territory that cannot be fully mapped from where you are currently standing. The abundant life Jesus describes is not available to someone who will only move when the whole route is visible. It is available to someone willing to follow a voice they have learned, over time, to trust.
The step is not dramatic. It rarely is. It is the decision, made today, in one specific place, to replace “can I afford this?” with “where is the Spirit already at work, and what would one step toward that look like?” It is sitting with someone long enough that something real passes between you. It is naming the pattern you have been protecting and deciding it does not get to define the boundary of what is possible. The life Jesus names is not waiting for you to be ready. It is already here, already moving, already more present than the fear that has been standing in for it. The path is still in front of you. The Spirit is still showing it. The only question is whether today is the day you stop standing at the fence and start walking.
Application:
When you find yourself asking “Can I afford this?” today — about a conversation, a commitment, a step you have been avoiding — pause and ask instead: “Where is the Spirit already at work here, and what would one step toward that look like?” Then take that step. Not when you feel ready. Today.
Writing Prompt:
What is the specific step you have been standing at the edge of, and what has “can I afford this?” been protecting you from?
Prayer:
Christ who calls me into life, meet me at the place where I have been standing at the fence. I know the step. Give me the courage to take it. Hold me as I learn to follow where you are already going. Amen.