I realized something as I was getting ready this morning. A lot has been going on in my life lately, and God has been calling me to take steps (and sometimes leaps) of faith in different areas of my life, many times without me being able to see the reason behind His leading or timing. But as I’ve done so, He has been blessing me with a deeper trust for Him, deeper faith, and greater willingness and ability to follow His lead without trying to analyze things to death or figure out what He’s going to do ahead of time.
This morning I was thinking about some of the things He’s led me to do, how He’s worked through those things, how I’m able to see His hand at work looking back, and it hit me. For a moment, I was able to see a much bigger picture, and it left me awestruck, energized, and excited at what God is doing, and at the same time, really humbled.
As I’ve been taking steps of faith, following His lead, and seeing Him move in really really amazing ways, I’ve been getting really excited. Granted, it hasn’t always been easy, and in fact, some things have been incredibly difficult. But seeing Him work through those areas has just been really cool. At first it was kind of like, “well, ok God, I guess if you want me to do this, I’ll trust you” and then reluctantly and fearfully inching up to the line and then stepping off into the pool. As He has grown my faith, it’s gone from stepping off of the side of the pool, to hopping off the low-dive, to jumping off the high-dive, and sometimes, to pole-vaulting off of the side of a cliff.
But every time that I’ve followed His lead in faith, He has proved Himself faithful, wise, trustworthy, a good Father, gentle, kind, patient, and a whole lot of other things.
“Well duuuuh,” you say. Yeah, I know. I’m there with you. But sometimes just because you know something doesn’t mean that you know it. God shouldn’t have to prove Himself to us, because He is God and He is all of those things I mentioned and so many more. But we live in a fallen world, and as a result, things don’t always work the way they should.
So anyhow, as I step out in faith, and He blesses that, it’s really cool. It’s kinda like when you’re a kid and your daddy shows you how to do something, and you try it a few times and mess up a few times, and then you get it right and get so excited about it. Kinda like that. God has been showing me how to step out in faith, and I’m finally starting to get it (more often anyhow, I know I don’t always get it right :P) and I’m just really loving it.
And then this morning I realize something. For a moment, I catch a glimpse of something much bigger. It reminds me of the ending of Miracle on 34th street, where Fred Gailey is all psyched about how he convinced the world that Chris was actually Santa Claus, then walks into the house, sees the cane propped up in the corner, and realizes, “maybe I didn’t do such a[n amazing] thing after all.”
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad thing to step out in faith when God leads. In fact, it’s critical, and a very good thing, and it’s pleasing to God when we do so, because it shows our trust and faith in Him, despite our understanding of the situation (or lack thereof.) It’s not even a bad thing to get excited when God works through our steps, leaps, and pole vaults of faith, and I know that God rejoices with us in those.
The thing that I saw, that I realized, is that, while all of that is true, we need to remember that our faith and obedience don’t cause it to happen. It allows God to work through us to see His Will done. We are the tools that He uses to do work in His Kingdom. And while we’re able to rejoice at what He does, we need to remember Who it is that’s doing the work – while a chisel cuts, it does not plan, create, design, or decide the details about the cut. All it’s supposed to do is to follow the Craftsman’s nudges, gestures, and movements so that His masterpiece can be created according to His plans and purposes. So, we’re able to act on faith and trust in the One Who is doing the cutting, able to be left in awe at what He does, but being humble about the fact that while we’re being used according to His plans and purposes, we aren’t the ones making it happen.
Besides, it takes a whole lot of pressure off knowing that we’re not the ones who have to have all this stuff figured out, you know? 😉
And so, with that, I leave you with this. It is a good thing to rejoice along with God as His plans come to fruition in and through our lives, as we follow His lead, stepping out in faith. But just as a young Darth Vader learned when facing his Pasaat: we need to remember that when we step out in faith, we aren’t the ones that make things happen – Someone else is still holding the keys 🙂