Stepping Out in Faith
“Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials." Smith Wigglesworth
Faith does not come easily. It means overcoming obstacle, going out of your comfort zone, and following God even when no one else wants too. Faith is not just something that you are born with; faith is something you have to work for. To have faith you need to take the time and effort to grow it.I like to think of faith like a tree. It may be small at first, like a seed, but when you you water it, feed it, and take care of it it starts to grow. If you take care of it it will continue to grow and bear fruit but, if you stop feeding it and taking care of it, your faith will die.
So how do we grow our faith and keep it from dying away? To answer this question we first need to identify the food and water of faith. What do you think helps grow your faith? For me, the first one is God. My faith in him is built up from a relationship with him. And in order to build a relationship with our Lord we need to set aside some time (free of distractions like computers, cell phones, friends, etc.) and just spend time with him. Reading the Bible, taking notes on Bible passages, writing down prayers in a journal, turning on worship music, and talking (as well as listening) to him are all great ways to grow your relationship with him. Spending time with God is the main food of growing your faith. God is the most important part of your faith, make sure you make time to talk to him.
So God and spending time with him is the food of our faith, so what is the water of our faith? Remember in the previous paragraph how I added talking and listening to God? Well the food is the talking portion where you initiate a relationship with God. The water is the listening part where you not only hear what God has to say, but also obey him. Obeying God can be hard. He generally asks us to do things we don't want to do, like being friends with an annoying kid in class or going out of your comfort zone to tell other about the Lord. "You mean God wants me to go out of my comfort zone?" Yes, I know that it's a scary thought. Comfort zone are safe. Nothing unexpected, dangerous, or scary happens in comfort zones. Beyond the walls of our self-made comfort zones you never know what may happen.
This is where we take the faith that we have been growing and actually put it in to action. Your faith can't grow past the walls of your comfort zone. You need to tear down those walls built from fear and anxiety if you want your faith to go further. "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:17 (NIV). If we don't break down our safety walls and put our faith into action by obeying God then our faith is useless and will eventually die. I know that you're scared to obey God, I am too. Almost everything that he asks me to do is way outside my comfort zone. Speaking to people about the Lord who may think I'm crazy, introducing my self to people I don't even know and asking to pray for them are hard things to do. I have difficulty doing them. But that is where faith comes in because, "...without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6 (NIV). If I don't believe in him and that something good will come out of all this hardship then how can I expect to reap the rewards of my work? If I don't believe in him then I won't even do the work that he asks of me. That is why building a strong relationship with him is so important. It prepares us to trust in him even when we are scared and don't know where the path he puts us on may lead.
The nice thing is that because I have faith in God I believe him when he says:
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)
"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28 (NLT)
"That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10 (NLT)
So, I take these truths that God has given me through his word and follow him into the unknown. When we follow God and trust that he knows what he is doing, we are stepping out in faith. We put our trust in God and follow him no-matter where he goes. Just as Ruth showed her loyalty to Naomi by saying, "...Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay...." (Ruth 1:16, NIV), so will I go where God goes, and where he stays I will stay. I will step out in faith and follow him.
By following him even when it's tough I know that you will come to realize that when you practice obedience towards him that is when your faith truly grows. Just as Smith Wiggleworth said, “Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials."
So, are you willing to tear down the walls holding you back and follow him? How are you going to step out in faith?