PASTOR’S CORNER: Step out in faith

God is calling us, his children, to step out this morning in faith; not seeing, not knowing, but simply just stepping out in faith to do something that we know we need to do.

There are some things we are not going to see or feel but step out even when we are trembling in our boots. Community, it all comes down to trusting God in this walk of faith — that’s what it boils down to — to do what we know we need to do and allow the Lord to have his way in our lives and not be afraid. He wants us to trust him with our whole life and hold back nothing and release ourselves into his hand and tell him “I’m yours Lord with everything I am, everything I’m not and everything I’ve got. I’m yours Lord. Try me now and see. See if I am completely yours!”

There is new territory he wants to take us into; new areas that we have never been to, but know that in the process of going, first of all, everybody is not going to go with you. To step out in faith may offend some people. It may rattle some people’s emotions and may even make some people mad, but we’ve got to trust God.

Now we all have faced frightening situations; times when we knew we were supposed to do something, say something but we didn’t; times when we froze up and felt bad afterward; times when we should have let our convictions be known but we didn’t; times when we went along with something that we knew was wrong but fear caused us to keep quiet; times in church when we felt like giving God praise because of something we know the Lord did for us; but the thought of how people would react if we did, caused us to freeze up and we didn’t.

There have been moments in our home when we let something go on that we know was not right but because we know that if we said something it would make the children or our spouse angry we held our peace. That’s why some of the children are running the home now. If the children don’t want to do something like go to church they don’t have to go! They run the house, and the parents pay the bills. But, God is not pleased with that. God is calling us this morning to “step out in faith” and do the right thing and trust him. Take a stand and trust him! Speak out and trust him, and we can trust him. Why? Because he has proven himself to all of us. Some things we only will receive when we step out in faith!

Ask Abraham. A whole nation and even we Christians are blessed today because Abraham stepped out in faith. Maybe this morning, just maybe, this is why things have not changed in our lives. It is because we are still where we’ve been. We won’t step out in faith! Remember Israel standing at the Red Sea afraid to step out? God was waiting for them to make a move. And he’s waiting on us. Once we make a move, then God will make a move. When they were standing facing the Red Sea, the Lord said to Moses, why do you cry out to me? Speak to the children of Israel and tell them to go forward. Tell them to step out in faith! I’ll open the sea. They just need to make a move (Exodus 14:15).

A person who says they want a job can’t just stay home and expect to get one! He or she has to make a move and step out in faith. A man who wants a wife can’t expect one to walk up to the door, knock on it and say, “Here I am!” A woman who wants a husband can’t just walk around all day wearing pajamas and bedroom shoes in the grocery stores and the mall. She has to make a move. Clean up and fix up! They both must move.

The only way we can overcome a mountain is to climb it, and it starts one step at a time, but you’ve got to move! There are some Christians who want to start their own business but they are afraid. God may be leading them in that direction but they are afraid to step out in faith. Some can’t go anywhere because they are trying to hold on to family, and sometimes family can hinder us and hold us back. We are afraid to trust God for the unknown. We want to be able to see how everything is going to work out before it works out! We allow giants to steal our moment but when we trust God with our whole lives, he gives us the courage to move forward.

Is anybody ready to go?

Joshua was told to step out in faith. They had to if they were going to inherit the long-awaited Promise Land on the other side of the Jordan River. The Israelites wondered how they were going to cross the raging, Jordan River. At the command of Joshua, when the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant put forth their feet into the water, the water stopped flowing (Joshua 3:15-16). My God! It was a miracle of God in response to the faith of the people. Community, God will open the river, save your loved one, work a miracle, make the way out of no way and fight the battle, if you step out in faith.