It is no surprise that God is interested in developing our character. One of the attributes He especially likes to develop is trust, which means He often will ask us to do something without revealing the entirety of His plans. He will ask us to take a leap of faith without explaining the why or the how. If I could be slightly transparent for a moment, I struggle with this. You see, I like to be in the know. I am one of those women who ask a lot of questions because I truly want to understand why I am doing something. As much as I can be task-oriented and love checking things off my list, I am also interested in the reasoning behind my actions. This is a great trait to have in the workforce, but not necessarily with my walk with God.
“Often the desire to know is in direct opposite to the desire to trust.” – Living In Freedom Everyday
The Christian life is filled with tests of obedience. God will ask us to step out in faith, and we decide if we will obey or not. It always starts small, and then gradually grows bigger and bigger with successful completion of the prior test.
Obviously, trusting God would be much easier if we could clearly see what is on the other side of our obedience. But, that’s the caveat. God wants us to take the leap without knowing all the details.
Just recently, the Lord has asked my husband and I to embark on one of these leaps. Separately, the Lord has been instructing us with different pieces of this endeavor. To be honest, the request doesn’t necessarily make sense in the natural, but we are certain the Lord is instructing us to move forward.
Initially, I struggled with the request. I kept petitioning the Lord for more details, more information, and more specifics. I got nothing. I kept asking family to pray for direction. I felt paralyzed moving forward, but knew that I must. After a long time in prayer, I realized that God likes to keep us on a need-to-know basis, and that all the wisdom I need to make this leap was already inside of me.
Can you relate? Has God asked you to move forward in a situation, but because of lack of knowledge and details you have stalled? You want to be obedient, but fear that you misunderstood or will make a wrong move. You try to make sense of His instruction by picking it apart and dissecting it.
Ladies, God doesn't want that from us. He wants us to trust Him fully, and move forward in faith. He wants us to be totally reliant on Him. He wants us to feel vulnerable, but confident that He will show up. Don’t hesitate. If God is asking, take the leap! I promise you, He will be on the other side.
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7