First Steps
First Steps aren’t always so steady. They take a little faith, a little courage. Like watching your baby walk . . . and then fall. Catching that baseball . . . on your chin. Applying that first makeup . . . and looking just a bit clownish. Having that first date . . . and feeling totally unprepared. Becoming a 1st time parent . . . and experiencing what books didn’t cover. Beginning a relationship with God . . . and feeling small, unworthy and uninformed. Starting an exercise class . . . and going the second time. Beginning a diet . . . and starting over after a meal, a day or a week. Addressing an addictive habit . . . more than once or twice. Like trusting God for your eternal welfare . . . and believing Him when “life” unravels.
Let’s just be honest, first steps can be tough and at times have to be repeated repeated. Trusting in God and especially trusting God, an invisible God, is a tall order. In fact, it’s too tall for many. We daily have “faith” in more things than we are aware of and though relatively uninformed about many things, we still navigate our lives with a certain confidence . . . but we struggle with faith in God quite often despite His keeping a very “faith-full” track record and giving us a good profile of His character through the Bible and especially through the life of His son, Jesus.
God doesn’t require a lot from us by way of faith/trust to initiate a relationship with Him. I vouch for that personally. But God does expect us to develop our “faith muscle,” if you will, by risking faith in His faithfulness when life’s circumstances become shaky and maybe even catastrophic in our thinking. That’s how God develops a history of reliability with us and how our confidence in Him grows and strengthens. It can be scary at times and require courage and faith. But truth be told, we often never see what God is capable of until He is required and invited by us.
When facing personal challenge, fortify your First Steps by these certainties: God loves you always. God is always working for your good. God’s character is consistent. We must learn to live by faith(courageous trust in God) and not by sight(our circumstances). Think About It.