A Journey of Faith

 

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.”

~ Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)

The One Year Bible I am reading this year combines passages of Scripture each day from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Psalms/Proverbs. I have absolutely loved connecting the dots between the passages I read each day. I always like to pause and ask God to show me what he is teaching me in the combination of these passages.

Today, I learned that God doesn’t always give us details. 

Sometimes, God simply says “Follow me”, and He gives us only enough information for one step of obedience at a time.

As this truth dawned on me, I felt an uncomfortable squirm deep inside my heart.

“But God”, I whined to Him, “I like knowing the details. You know that I love to know the plan. I want to know when an event is happening, who will be there, what time it will take place, and where the event is located so that I can plan my commute appropriately.”

It turns out that God’s plans for my commute are only two words:

“Follow me.”

That’s all Jesus said to the disciples He called as we see in the book of Matthew:

"While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

~ Matthew 4:18-22

Likewise, when God spoke to Abram in Genesis 12, He gave him very little detail in the events that were to take place during Abram’s journey:

"Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

~ Genesis 12:1-3

As I paused to consider what these two passages were teaching me, I realized the sin in my heart of wanting to always be in control of the details. Give me a plan, and I will execute it to the very last detail.

There’s only one problem with that…. If I’m in control of the plan, why would I need God?

You see there is only one God, and I am not Him.

When God says to take a first step of obedience and follow Him, it forces me to completely rely on Him for every step of the journey. There is no way for me to handle it on my own because I need His direction for each step, and without Him I am completely lost on my own.

What step of obedience do you need to take today? Are you scared to take the first step because you don’t know the whole plan? 

If so, I encourage you to lean into God for His direction and take that first step of obedience. 

The journey of obedience, after all, is about being in His presence for every step.

As you take that first step of obedience, please let us know in the comments if we can pray with you on your journey.