The ninth chapter of Luke describes Jesus’ disciples as living with a tension. Verse one describes them as being in awe. Verse three describes them as being afraid.

Living in awe of what God is doing is a good thing. It stretches our faith to go higher with Jesus. It gives us the confidence to call others to higher levels of faith. Living in fear has the opposite effect. It weakens our faith. It locks us into our comfort zones.

That’s why we all need people who are willing and available to help us focus on the awe that comes from seeing God at work. We need people who will ask us dangerous questions like, “What God is saying to you these days?”  “What are some ways you’ve seen God at work in your life and cell group recently?” “When was the last time you overcame a fear and stepped out of your comfort zone for Jesus?”

Without someone who cares about us, asking those kinds of questions, we all naturally default to focusing on our fears. Fear gives us permission to retreat to the known, the easy, the predictable. Before we know it, we are going through the motions of leading meetings and putting on events rather than actually leading people to Spirit-empowered living in Christ. The mundane lives in our fears. The miraculous lives in our sense of awe!

It occurs to me that every follower of Christ lives in the tension of being a little bit in awe and a little bit afraid—all the time. If not, you might need to check if you are actually following Jesus! It also occurs to me that every leader, at every level needs someone—a coach, a mentor, a pastor, someone—who calls us beyond our default setting.

Who is doing that for you? Who is calling you out of your comfort zone? Who is leading you to live in the awe of what God is doing?