By Jessica Brodie
Have you ever trusted someone blindly, going along with what they have in mind because you believe in their vision, even if you can’t see it?
My husband and I toured our friends’ house, admiring the hard work they’d put into their remodel. They pointed out the intensive changes they’d made, taking one room down to the floor joists while knocking out walls and ceilings in another section, fully transforming the structure of their home. They did a beautiful job, and it was a joy to walk through the rooms with them and see the fruits of all their labor.
“It was all her vision,” the husband told us. “I couldn’t see any of it until it was all done. She knew what she wanted and mapped it out, and we just did the work. I had no idea what it would look like until it was finished. Even though she told me, I just couldn’t see it.”
That’s a mighty example of trusting your spouse!
Think about that for a moment—how many people would go along with their husband’s or wife’s vision for something as huge as a year-and-a-half-long home remodeling project, yet they couldn’t even picture what the end result would be? That’s a pretty huge leap of faith, and I think it exemplifies the trust between them.
It also reminds me of the trust Abraham exhibited in the Bible. Abraham, at first named Abram, was just a simple man living his life in the Middle East when God called him out of his homeland, imploring him to journey to a distant land (Genesis 12). God promised to make Abraham a “great nation” (v. 2) and said he would make Abraham’s name great so he would be a blessing. Abraham didn’t need to know how this would be done. He simply believed God. He knew the Lord of the Universe was speaking the truth. On that conviction, Abraham left everything he knew, traveled with his wife to this new land, and started over. God tested him a number of times along the way, and each time Abraham proved he was faithful and trusted God. Ultimately, God did God fulfilled his promise. He did indeed bring forth generations upon generations from the union between Abraham and his wife, Sarah. Abraham, often called the father of Israel, went on to father Isaac, who fathered Jacob (also known as Israel), from whom came the 12 tribes of Israel. And from those tribes came the Messiah—Jesus Christ our savior.
The billions of Christians around the world today can be traced back to that courageous faith leap Abraham made when he left his homeland and said yes to God. He didn’t see the vision, but he didn’t have to. He trusted the vision maker, and his reward is still evident today.
Just like my friend who trusted his wife’s vision and now they have a beautiful home to live in, we too are called to step out in faith. We are called to trust our heavenly Father, to live our lives according to his vision and not question it. We are to walk in obedience and faithfulness and holiness, knowing that even when we mess up, even when we stumble, we can pick ourselves back up again, brush off the dirt, and set our feet back on the path of righteousness.
Here are three ways we can walk in faith today:
1) We can set our sights on God. Instead of inflating our importance or our feelings, or believe we need signs or must know certain things first, we can simply trust that God knows what he’s doing. Indeed, as 1 John 3:20 says, God knows everything.
2) We can loosen our grip. Instead trying to control situations, we can yield to the understanding that we don’t really control anything at all. We’re not in charge of the world. We’re not even in charge of our own lives—God is (Colossians 1:17). We’re simply the managers.
3) We can surrender. There is tremendous liberation when we stop fighting the will of the Lord. Sometimes what God asks us to do feels uncomfortable or seems impossible. We strive to go our own way, believing we know what is best for our life. We forget that God knows us intimately, that God knitted us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), that he knows our thoughts even before they form on our lips or become concepts in our minds (Psalm 139:4). Surrendering to him is freeing, and it opens doors in ways unimaginable.
If you are struggling to trust God and step out of faith about something he’s calling you to do, maybe think of my friends and their house, or think of Abraham and how he trusted God.
Then take a bold step in the direction God is leading, knowing that he will never leave you or forsake you.
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”—Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)
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