Guest post by blogger and author Melanie Shankle . 

 Where feet may fail 

… about a week ago I was driving to meet some friends for lunch and secretly maybe wishing I’d get the flu so I would have an excuse to continue to be a social recluse (I’m envisioning all of you now second-guessing your assumptions that we’d be friends in real life because now you’re overcome with the realization that I’m so weird and introverted) when the song   Oceans   came on.

 You call me out upon the waters 
 The great unknown where feet may fail 
 And there I find You in the mystery 
 In oceans deep 
 My faith will stand  

As I listened, really listened, to the words I felt God say to me, “You feel like this is too much because you’re trying to figure out how to do it on your own power and none of this is about you.” It took everything in me not to just pull the car over and cry because that’s exactly it. I’m trying to be graceful and compassionate and kind and wise and discerning and loving but I’m putting myself in charge of the production of all those attributes. And then my selfishness and pride and insecurity all rise to the top instead and I freak out because I know how lacking I am in basically every category and then I just want to sit on my couch and watch old episodes of   Friday Night Lights   because that feels safe.

 And I will call upon Your name 
 And keep my eyes above the waves 
 When oceans rise 
 My soul will rest in Your embrace 
 For I am Yours and You are mine  

Because here’s the thing, it’s easier to sit on your couch than to risk failing. It’s easier to sit on your couch than to be out in the world where you’re vulnerable and open to being hurt or disappointed. But you know what happens while you sit on your couch playing Candy Crush and watching Tami Taylor? Life. Beautiful, gorgeous, fragile, heartbreaking, mind-blowing, life. God has a script written for each and every one of us, no matter who we are or what we’ve done or how much we feel completely ill-equipped for the adventure.

 Your grace abounds in deepest waters 
 Your sovereign hand 
 Will be my guide 
 Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me 
 You’ve never failed and You won’t start now  

We are all climbing our versions of Mount Everest and have no idea if our oxygen will last or if an avalanche will come, but God does. And we can never underestimate the grace and the strength he will give us for whatever challenges we face. He has called us to things higher and deeper than anything we could ever hope to achieve on our own.

It’s too much. It’s too much for us to do in our strength because we will mess it up but he knows that and uses us anyway. Because it’s never about creating or doing or being something that’s perfect. It’s not about having all the right answers. It’s about being his. It’s knowing that he who has called us is faithful.

 Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders 
 Let me walk upon the waters 
 Wherever You would call me 
 Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander 
 And my faith will be made stronger 
 In the presence of my Savior  

 Have you named your Everest? Have you laid it at the altar and accepted His grace? 

This piece is excerpted from  Where Feet May Fail  by Melanie Shankle, a wife, mom, and writer. You can find her over at thebigmamablog.com and check out her new book The Antelope in the Living Room .