How to Step Out in Faith When the Next Step Feels Scary
It’s late August, and the ironweed boasts deep purple blossoms among fields of green and gold. We stand at the end of the driveway with anxious hearts. Today is an opportunity to learn how to step out in faith. We all feel just a little bit scared.
I honestly believed I’d be more nervous than our extroverted five-year-old when the first day of kindergarten came, but it seems she’s the one with the jitters.
We review the directions to her classroom for the third time. I remind her to focus on eating her sandwich at lunchtime. We discuss important topics like hand sanitizer and hydration: the stuff moms worry about.
As the engine of the school bus groans its visceral call and carries my precious firstborn to the care of people I hardly know, I’m surprised I don’t cry.
Instead, I walk quietly back to the house with thoughts of her little brother asleep in his crib. I know this transition is simply a necessary part of the progression of her life, and I’m at peace about letting it unfold.
How to Step Out in Faith When You’re Scared
The evening is a different story. Exhausted from her first long day in the classroom, the child I’ve enjoyed for the past five years is nowhere to be seen. Instead, an exhausted shell of a little girl crashes onto the couch with absolutely no desire to comply with any of my motherly requests.
She wakes up an hour later with frantic tears about the moment she couldn’t find the classroom and how scary it was and how she doesn’t want to go back. My heart breaks just a little.
~~~
A year later, we’re now staring down the face of first grade, and little Bekah is excited and only slightly nervous.
She can’t wait to see the familiar faces, deliver a gift to last year’s teacher, and dive into all the fun that awaits.
I think about how scary the step into kindergarten often felt for her and how sometimes, there’s just no way around the next frightening step.
What the Bible Says About How to Step Out in Faith
I wonder if this is how God’s people felt after wandering in the desert for four decades.
I know it might feel like a stretch to compare my little girl’s school journey to the wandering Israelites, but stick with me.
God’s chosen people finally reach the gateway to the Promised Land. The formidable Jordan River lies between the people and the land they will call home. Joshua, their fearless leader, commands the Levites to step into the water.
These holy men have been carrying the ark of God toward the Promised Land. They are set apart for special service. They carry the presence of the Living God. And now they are called to step into the flowing waters of the river.
I wonder if this step was scary.
I wonder if they questioned the command, if they hesitated.
They knew God had the power to move the water, as evidenced forty years earlier when Moses raised his staff and the waters of the Red Sea parted. But the waters of the Jordan showed no signs of parting, and yet they were asked to step into the river.
When God Calls You to Step Out in Faith Before You See His Provision
Sometimes we’re called to step into the next assignment before we see a comforting amount of evidence that God is working.
Sometimes we’re called to step into the water when there’s no sign God’s going to part it. He calls us to step into a new place of ministry or a new season of life before we have confidence that God really will make a way.
Sometimes we have to take the first step without knowing the final outcome or even seeing the immediate provision. #steppingout #followingGod Share on XFeet in the swirling water, the Levites held the ark. They watched, as after the first step of faith, God performed yet another miracle with the water. He drew the river back and provided a way across the Jordan on dry ground. They simply had to step out in obedience for the miracle to take place.
Do You Need to Learn How to Step Out in Faith in Your Own Uncertain Places?
Friend, is God asking you to step out in faith?
Are you afraid?
Let me offer a suggestion:
Pray through it today. Go to a quiet place, and ask God for direction. Sit with your Bible and read about God’s character by reading the Psalms. Does stepping out match the kind of life God ordains for his people? How is the Holy Spirit speaking to you through the written Word?
Pay attention to your soul. Dig into your motives. Are you stepping out to please someone else? Are you trying to make a name for yourself? Do you have a desire to prove your worth by taking this step? How much will this step cost your family, and are they on board?
Sit with these questions.
Seek wise counsel. Talk with someone who has been walking with God for a long time.
Absolutely refuse to hurry into the decision. (I can often tell a decision is not from God when I feel rushed.)
After all of this, if God seems to be leading you forward, today is the day to step out in faith.
You might not see his provision yet. The waters are still raging.
Today I gently encourage you to step into the raging waters and watch for God to make a way.
He often waits for you to take the first step before he shows you the way for the second step.
~~~
As for us, we lay out the clothes for the first day of first grade. We pray for Bekah’s teacher and her classmates and the children who will be her close friends. And we step into the water.
A Free Devotional to Help You Learn How to Step Out in Faith:
Are you ready to learn how to step out in faith? I have compiled a free online 14-day devotional, called Victory Rising: A 2-Week Journey to Defeat Fear, Worry, and Doubt. Enter your name and email address here, and I’ll deliver it directly to your email inbox!
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Calling all moms and daughters!
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