The Courage to Move Forward in Faith
So often we let our hearts become troubled out of our unbelief, but the Father calls us to trust in Him even when it doesn’t make perfect sense. He encourages us by saying, “There is more than enough room in my Father’s house. If there was not, I would not have told you I am preparing the way for YOU and at just the right time, when everything is ready, I will come to you.”
The time has finally come. We finally have our YES, but now what? This is the second part of this two series blog entry of gaining clarity before moving forward. If you missed the first part, peek over to the BLOG and check out The Courage to Step Back to Receive Clarity. It may provide clarity before reading this!
Learning to not get stuck in the stress of the details and have the ability to move forward in faith takes courage and zeal. In this blog post, I am going to break down Luke 9 verses 1-3 and discuss how the Lord calls us ALL to step up and step out in obedience to Him while saying YES to His plan!
One day Jesus called together His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out demons and to heal all diseases. Then He sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. “Take nothing for your journey,” He instructed. “Don’t take a walking stick, a travelers bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes. Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town. And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake the dust from your feet as you leave and carry on.” — Luke 9:1-3
#1. He Equips
“He gave power and authority.” Friends, as a Christ follower, we have His power and His authority to do mighty things. Isn’t this incredible! Before He calls, He prepares. The first part of this series (The Courage to Step Back to Receive Clarity), I really dive into this topic. We have to step back to hear from Him before we can move forward. While we are waiting, He is preparing the way and equipping our hearts to align with His.
What if we’re not qualified for the job? That is awesome, because guess what? He is in the business of qualifying the unqualified. Friends, God isn’t reading our resumes; He is looking at our hearts. Our skill set is not what is most valuable to Him; it is our availability to be used by Him!
Looking for examples? Well, here are a few people He equipped for His purpose:
Moses had a speech impediment. God deemed Him worthy to lead.
Peter denied. God used him to build His church.
Esther was taken from her home. God made her queen to display His sovereignty and faithfulness.
David was small. God used him to defeat a giant.
Our defining moment is not something experienced by chance, yet it is God ordained!
#2. He Sends
“Then He sent them out.” Leaving comfort and stepping out by faith takes a lot of courage my friends, but take heart. It is easy to stay where we are known, loved, and comfortable, but at some point in our lives, He will ask us to leave everything and go where you are not known, where you are not loved, and where it is uncomfortable. Why? Because, this is the very essence of being a Christ follower!
Go and make disciples. Go and heal the sick. Go and speak His name. Go and encourage another. Go and save the oppressed. The Almighty is looking for someone to help stich the world back together for His glory and that someone is you and I! And remember, this “go” will stretch us. It will stretch our resources, expose our insecurities, unveil doubt and fear, but take heart: He doesn’t call where He doesn’t lead. He goes before, He goes behind, and He will carry His children through any given situation.
Just have faith, be courageous, and go!
#3. He Provides
“Take nothing for your journey.” Meaning, He will provide everything we need. Do we believe this? Often times, we find ourselves stressing over the details of the mission and lose sight of what the original call was. “What if I do not have enough money?” “What if I do not know what to say?” “What if I am rejected?” These are all real fears, but when the Father says take nothing with you, He means leave your doubts, your fears, and all of your anxieties at His feet. Leave it and do not pick it back up. If He is calling, He is providing.
When we do not believe in ourselves, we do not believe in Him. You see, when we make Christ Lord of our lives and King of our hearts, He is alive in us. He is in us. We are in Him. Together we are one. When we doubt ourselves, we ultimately doubt the Father who calls us, equips us, sends us, and provides for us.
#4. He Instructs
“Wherever you go, stay or shake the dust and carry on.” He will tell us exactly what to do and when to do it, but it will often look much different then we would expect. I do not know about you, but I will often find myself looking for actual WRITING ON THE WALL of step-by-step instructions, the how-to’s, and everything in-between. Wouldn’t this be nice? I can picture God now taking an expo marker and writing my BIG plan on His BIG dry erase board all colorful and perfectly organized. However, His instructions are not found in the details of the plan, only He can see that, but they are found when we decide to take our fist step.
“I would do whatever He tells me to do, but I do not know what to do?” Does this sound familiar? His response is simple, “just take a step.” When we take one step, He instructs the next. Remember when we took a step back to receive clarity before committing to the mission? He has already gone before us and prepared the path and the hearts involved.
We already asked God to clarify, but now we ask for courage to take a step where He has instructed.
Friends, how do we feel? Are we encouraged to step out and have bold faith and an obedient yes to do His work for His kingdom? I pray that our hearts remain FULL of adventure but not worn out by the journey. The call is not going to be places far off but nearby. “Don’t miss this,” He says. It is a journey of unknowns, bold faith, and small steps but what He does in us after He is finished is something unspeakable. We are radiant because we said YES!