I recently watched a video on Facebook with a chimpanzee holding a purse on one arm and holding a leash to a bulldog on the other. Now, I don’t usually watch many videos, but something caught my eye.

The two seemed to be in a city park somewhere trying to cross a man-made brook. There were concrete steps leading down to the water and large square paving stones to cross the brook to the other side where there were also steps. I watched the chimpanzee cross the stones so carefully. She (must’ve been a she since she had a purse dangling from one arm) evaluated each step carefully. As she led, the dog would jump to the step the chimp had just left. She carefully stepped and the dog, totally trusting his lead, obediently followed.

Until they reached the last stone.

The last stone was a greater distance to the safety of the steps on the other side. The chimp eased as close to the edge of the step as she could and leapt to the steps. But the bulldog stubbornly refused to jump from that last step. He sat on his haunches and would not budge. Maybe the water was cold or he just didn’t want to get wet. Whatever the reason, the bulldog would not take that last jump. What ensued was a tug of war. The chimp pulled and tugged the leash even climbing a couple of steps so as to get a better grip. Still, the bulldog wouldn’t budge. And so it went, the chimp pulling and the dog stubbornly sitting on the safety of the last paving stone until finally he made the jump safely to the other side.

I was immediately reminded of how we, as Christians, are often like that bulldog. God has led the way He wants us to go. He has made a safe path for us to follow; stepping stones to a more abundant life. But it often requires faith and making a huge jump. And what do we do? We sit back like the bulldog, refusing to move out of our comfort zone. We know He has led the way and holds us in His hand, but still we refuse. It is only after we finally move that we wonder why we didn’t do it sooner.

It’s difficult to move beyond our comfort zone, whatever that zone may be. We become complacent, lazy, and unwilling to make another jump. But unless we do, we will never become the person God has meant us to be.