Go Ahead and Shoot the Moon

Any chance my husband gets, he will shoot the moon. Shooting the moon is a strategy in the card game of Hearts. If done properly, the person who shoots the moon passes along the 26 points to the other players. If they're short one card, then they're stuck, because the person with the lowest points wins the round.I’ve never successfully done it. I’m a play-it-safe kind of gal. Sometimes, I’m trying harder not to lose than I am to win. My husband calls my method of playing ducking, which only changed my method to a do-anything-to-prevent-my-husband-from-shooting-the-moon strategy.Dumbo, Disney’s flying elephant, also liked to play it safe. The only way Timothy Q., the circus mouse could convince Dumbo to attempt to fly was to have him hold a magical feather. Yet, the magic wasn’t inside the feather. It was inside of Dumbo. The feather became a blindfold prohibiting Dumbo from seeing what he was truly capable of achieving.What feather or excuse are we clinging to instead of realizing the potential within ourselves? I like safety, but when does the comfort of playing it safe become an idol of pleasure?Steven Furtick, Pastor of Elevation Church in NC, did a sermon illustration about being daring for God. When Steven gets to heaven, he wants his guardian angel to be relieved because of how exhausting it was to protect his charge. Like Steven Furtick, I don’t want to get to heaven and have God say, “You did okay, but I had so much more for you if only you’d have been willing to step out in faith.”God’s will is bold. Noah built a boat, and it had never rained before. David, a small sheepherder boy with a slingshot, defeated a military giant. And, Gideon the least in his family among the weakest clan, who hid from the Midianites in an old winepress to thresh his wheat, defeated the massive Midianite army with a small band of three hundred men.John 10:10 says, “I came so that you may have life and have it to the full.” Jesus didn’t say a little bit or halfway. He said so that you may have life to the full. You are God’s creation. Live life full. Don't settle for mediocrity. Choose to be the person you’re meant to be, not merely the person you’ve allowed yourself to become.Step out in faith. Keep working until God demonstrates the extraordinary. Don't lean on your own understanding, instead, trust in God (Proverbs 3:5-6).Go head. Make your guardian angel sweat a little.Don't miss a post! Sign up for my weekly blog here: Lorri's Blog