Take the next step

 

Have you ever had a pair of glasses that were smudged? Perhaps the rain had spattered them or cooking over a pot of oil had caused them to be speckled and hard to see through clearly.

Faith is often a lot like that. It rarely comes with full clarity.

It’s the part I don’t like. I want to know what is going to happen. I want to know how the situation will work out. I want the details, and I want them now!

But that’s not how God works. And it’s not how faith works.

As one author put it, “When you live a life of faith, there are going to be questions that have no answers, because for there to be faith, there has to be mystery. That’s just life in the deep end. It would be nice if we could have the safety of the shore and the potential of the open ocean at the same time, but that’s not how it works.”

What is faith? We all know the verse most quoted when looking for a Biblical definition. It is found in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith involves trust. It involves reliance and confidence in God and his promises which leads to a life of obedience and service, or at least, it should.

Faith is a trust in God’s character, confidence in his promises and obedience as evidence of our belief, trust and faith.

It is not blind or irrational. It is a reasoned confidence based on what God has revealed to us in his word. It is grounded in God’s proven character and promises. It is not blind belief.

It is not just a belief in facts. It’s not a feeling, because faith can operate even when our emotions are all over the place. It’s not just a general optimism, it’s a specific trust in God’s promises.

One of the best examples of faith in God’s Word is found in the book of Genesis.

There is this moment in Abraham’s life, where God speaks to him and tells him to leave his home. God tells Abraham to go. But he doesn’t hand him a road map. He doesn’t hand him a bullet point plan of action. He doesn’t even give him a direction!

Genesis 12:1 KJV – Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

How many of you could deal with a command like that without baulking? Or without questioning? Yeah, me neither.

We recently sold our house here in Katherine. (a big hip hip hooray celebration!) It was a tediously, long process of back and forth with buyers, conveyancers and the real estate etc and it took absolutely forever! I was so checked out and done by the end of it that I had given up all hope of the sale even going through.

When we put it on the market, we were full of faith and excitement that God would sell it quickly and it would all be over in a matter of months. We thought we could see the way clear ahead. But no. Our glasses soon became smudged and scratched and our sight dimmed. Faith became something we had to hold tight to. We had to trust in God’s character and perfect will. We had to keep believing that he had a plan.

And as always, God came through.

I wonder what was going through Abraham’s mind when God gave the onward, forward command? I wonder what went through Sarah’s (Abraham’s wife) mind? I’m sure it was a huge test of faith and also submission to her husband to follow him into the unknown. God simply said ‘go’. And they went.

The Hebrew word we see here in this verse, for ‘get’ (or go) is yalak. It simply means to walk. Not figure everything out. Not map out the whole journey. Not work out a plan. Simply walk. Just walk.

Which sounds simple. Until it’s your life. And your instruction. Until it becomes personal.

So, God told Abraham to go. And Abraham just goes. God pronounces a blessing upon him and he goes.

Genesis 12:4 KJV – So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

And that bit gets me. Because I don’t do that. I want more detail. I want more confirmation. I want an itinerary. I want something that will make me feel safer. I want assurance. But that’s not how faith works, is it?

Faith really isn’t having everything sorted. Faith isn’t having a 5-year plan laid out tidily. Faith is just being willing to take the next step.

Even when the glasses are smudged. Even when it’s unclear. Even when it’s uncomfortable. Oh, how we like our comfort.

Abraham is mentioned in the great hall of faith in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 11:8 KJV – By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

This verse reminds us of his obedience. A connection to faith. But it also gives us a little more detail to the story. It tells us that he went out, not even knowing where he was going.

In Genesis, it says he departed. He left. Same Hebrew word, yalak, go, walk. But in Hebrews it elaborates by saying he had no clue where God was calling him to go. Not knowing. That word knowing has to do with understanding. So, he had no understanding of the situation.

And yet, he went. He left blindly. All he had to go on was his trust in God’s character and faithfulness in the past. And that was enough.

Is it enough for us?

What is it that you already know God is asking you to do that you haven’t done yet?

What step of faith do you need to take?

 

2 Timothy 1:7 KJV 

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

 but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.