Called Us Higher

I came across a song several months ago entitled, "Called Me Higher", by the group, All Sons and Daughters. I remember exactly where I was when  I heard the lyric, 

"I could hold on to who I am and never let You change me from the inside...
I could be safe here in Your arms and never leave home

 but You have called me Higher

You have called me Deeper

and I'll go where You will lead me, Lord"

I stopped what I was doing and said out loud, "Amazing!" God has been showing me that we can not grow closer to Him (and to others) if we are not stepping outside of our comfort zones. How could we ever grow in our relationships if we were never vulnerable? How could we learn to trust others if we didn't have to let [them?] go first? The same is with God. He has called us higher and deeper in our relationship with Him and others. Brother Yun in the book, The Heavenly Man, states, when asked what he thinks about the Church in the Western Culture, "It seems you want to stop and enjoy His presence and blessings too long, and build an altar to your experiences..." He goes on to share that our daily lives are not lived on the mountain tops but along the valleys and the climbs.

I would dare to say that Brother Yun would say, "God has called you higher: and He has called you deeper."

What is He challenging you in? What scares you or drains you to even think about conquering? Is it perhaps that in pressing in to see Christ more that we will have to travel where we have never been before? May we remember that "...Christ Jesus has made [us] His own." (Philippians 3:12b) He will not leave you. He will not stop loving you. But He will also not stop desiring you and for you to pursue Him.... And though we may not see it or feel it in our flesh: In the here and now, and at "the end": He WILL be worth it.