We’re looking at small faith steps on the blog today because the New Year often signals a fork in the road – a pivot point where we reflect and evaluate and make small tweaks and directional changes to improve our lives.
This need for movement happens in my faith, as well. I picture my faith as a walk and walking requires I move. Step forward. It won’t work standing still.
My favorite story of a move of faith – literally, one step that changed history is Moses standing before the Red Sea. It is a sweet example of the call of faith. The call to ‘Move!’.
It’s a call I’d sometimes like to ignore because I’m just too tired, or too afraid, or too scared of what others might think. There are lots of reasons not to move, but let’s look at what happened when Moses did move.
Imagine…
Moses as he stood before the sea leading over a million Israelites out of captivity. Picture the scene – Moses had a mean and strong Egyptian army complete with chariots, coming after him and he is backed up against an ocean – of water, of doubt, of uncertainty.
There were 11/2 million of Moses’ own people (friends, family and others) who were watching him and what he would do faced with the sea on one side and the army on the other.
This gives a new dimension to peer pressure! A million times more.
And, amidst this backdrop he is called on to make a decision.
What do you do? Do you wait for confirmation? Do you cry? Do you listen to the crowd’s opinions and complaints?
Unbelievable pressure. Unbelievable decision, requiring a move. Into the unknown. Literally, into the waters.
Listen to the verse that describes that moment and the words the Lord speaks to Moses’s heart.
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the waters so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground”. – Exodus 14:15,16
God’s advice to Moses, my version is:
‘Man Up.’
‘MOVE!’
How often do I need to hear that in my own life, particularly in my faith walk?
I stand on hold – waiting for perfection. Waiting for the perfect time. The perfect friend to accompany me. The perfect confirmation.
God’s call to us in the everyday moments is often a ‘move’. And, sometimes, ‘move on’ – let go of the past, let go of your regrets, let go of your bitterness, let go of that person you are holding onto so tightly. Move on.
‘Move’.
God does have a direction we are to move – towards Him, near Him, after Him. A move of faith.
Faith is trusting God He will open up the way before you.
You and I don’t have to see the whole picture, or have all the answers, or know the exact destination, but move we must.
Faith requires a step – a move towards God Himself.
As we approach a New Year, let us consider how God is moving us. Am I approaching a ‘faith step’ – a small call that requires a heart leap in trust?
Show us this day, Lord, the step we must take.
**Do you have some inkling today of a small step towards God, a step of faith, that you feel called to in this New Year? Perhaps just an impression on your heart. Listen close. What comes to mind? Is there something you’ve been considering that might add more of God’s life to your life?
#thisdaygodsway
