When It Is Time to Walk

What we do not cross.

Waiting taught me that not every open space is an invitation.
Some surfaces look solid until you listen more closely.

I wanted to move sooner.
It would have looked faithful.
It would have preserved momentum and control.
It would have let me keep my competence and my reputation intact.

But it would not have been obedience.

So I stayed.
Not from fear, but because restraint was required.

Some paths are refused, not delayed.

What we walk without knowing.

Staying has weight.
It gathers the questions into the body.

Walking is what teaches where the ground holds
and where it does not.

Walking does not undo the staying.
It completes it.

What returns after restraint.

And sometimes—only sometimes—
after danger has been refused
and listening has been practiced,
there is room again for lightness.

Not because everything is safe,
but because discernment has been learned
step by step.

Joy without spectacle.
Movement without proving.

I am not writing from arrival.
I am writing from following.

That is enough.

Tags: attention, obedience, discernment, formation, restraint, walking by faith, following, John 15, John 21, Forming 2.0