Word for Today - 15 April 2025
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“Tell the children of Israel to go forward.’” Exodus 14:15 NKJV
Fear is the enemy of growth
If you want to grow, you need to get over any fear you may have of making mistakes. As author and professor Warren Bennis states, “A mistake is simply another way of doing things.” So, expect to make mistakes along the way, and embrace them as a sign that you are going in the right direction. With the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh’s chariots behind them, the children of Israel panicked. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward’” (v. 15 NKJV). When they did, the Red Sea became a pathway to victory and a burial ground for the enemy they feared. If you have to find “the best way” or “the perfect way,” you will never get anywhere. It’s like driving on an unknown road at night. Ideally, you would like to see your entire route before you start out. Instead, you see it little by little. As you keep going, a little more of the road is revealed to you. So, if you want to see more of the way, get moving. Make a commitment to yourself to start on your growth plan and keep at it for at least twelve months. If you do, you will develop a love for the process, and at the end of the year, you will be able to see how far you have come. “Enlarge the place of your tent…stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left” (Isaiah 54:2-3 NKJV).
Fear is the enemy of growth
If you want to grow, you need to get over any fear you may have of making mistakes. As author and professor Warren Bennis states, “A mistake is simply another way of doing things.” So, expect to make mistakes along the way, and embrace them as a sign that you are going in the right direction. With the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh’s chariots behind them, the children of Israel panicked. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward’” (v. 15 NKJV). When they did, the Red Sea became a pathway to victory and a burial ground for the enemy they feared. If you have to find “the best way” or “the perfect way,” you will never get anywhere. It’s like driving on an unknown road at night. Ideally, you would like to see your entire route before you start out. Instead, you see it little by little. As you keep going, a little more of the road is revealed to you. So, if you want to see more of the way, get moving. Make a commitment to yourself to start on your growth plan and keep at it for at least twelve months. If you do, you will develop a love for the process, and at the end of the year, you will be able to see how far you have come. “Enlarge the place of your tent…stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left” (Isaiah 54:2-3 NKJV).