The other day, I set my Pandora station to 80s music. While you may disagree, I think this is some of the best music ever. Perhaps it’s because it brings me back to a simpler time – or at least it seems so in hindsight.

The “Safety Dance” by the group Men Without Hats came on and I had to chuckle. Not only because of the lyrics and the name of the band, but because the messages I’ve been hearing lately are all about boldness and courage.

One of the lines in the song is: “We can dance, we can dance. Everybody’s taking the chance.”

Sounds pretty bold, doesn’t it?

I am not a particularly good dancer although I love to dance. Likewise, I am not a particularly good singer,  but I love to sing – especially when 80s music fills my playlist! 

There’s an important lesson here. Despite having little to no rhythm and likely being pitchy, I still do these things. I could take dance and voice lessons and perfect these skills or I could take a chance of ”looking the fool” and do them anyway.

Sometimes, our need for perfection keeps us from taking a step forward. Sometimes, our need for a guarantee of success keeps us from breaking out of our comfort zone. 

We see time and time again in the Bible that no one was perfect and no one was 100% sure of their next step (except for Jesus of course).

• Abraham left his hometown but had no idea where he was going to end up (Genesis 12:1-4). God told him to leave and go to a place that He would show him.
• Moses left his place in the palace not knowing how God would lead him to save the Israelites (Exodus 2).
• Peter left his life as a fisherman to follow Jesus not knowing what that would look like for him and his family (Luke 5:1-11).
• Paul left his life as a persecutor of Christians to become a staunch supporter of the gospel message not knowing if he’d end up just like Jesus (Acts 9:1-22).

What is the common thread here? 

No one knew what was in front of them, yet…each had faith in God to lead them to the right place at the right time to the right people.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKVJ)

They say there is safety in numbers, however, each of these people stepped out solo. Would we be as bold as they were? Are we living as courageously as God wants us to be? Or are we stuck in a perpetual safety dance?

We may not be called to step out like the Abraham’s and Paul’s of the Bible, but I believe that God is calling each of us in some way to step out.

Funny…as I’m writing this, the song “Stepping Out” by Joe Jackson just popped into my head! (I’m clearly an 80s music junkie!) Take a look at these lyrics:

“We are young but getting old before our time. We’ll leave the TV and the radio behind. Don’t you wonder what we’ll find steppin’ out tonight?”

You see, we can live our lives safely or we can step out. It is our decision. God doesn’t force us to do either. His invitation is simple: step out in faith and I’ll be with you every step of the way. There’s safety in His arms (Psalm 91).

We are still in the first minutes of the new year. What will we do? Will we step out in faith, or will we stay in our kitchens doing the safety dance where no one can see us?

Nothing is impossible with God, so I want to encourage you to “leave the TV and radio behind” and step out today.

PS – if you’d like to brainstorm about how to step out of your comfort zone, click here to contact me today for a free 30 minute consultation.