Stepping Out in Faith: What’s Your Trust Level?

When I pray and read my Bible each morning, I start with a little prayer. The first part of that prayer is, “God, I trust you, I submit to you, and I need you.” The needing part goes without much explanation. I’m aware that while I have no idea what will happen that day, God does. I know I can’t survive the day without his help.

I also want to live fully surrendered to him. I always tell him my desires (he knows them anyway), and I want to start the day by acknowledging that what I want more than anything is to be in his will. 

The only way we’re able to surrender to God, though, is to trust him. How could anyone voluntarily surrender to someone who can’t be trusted? I surrender to my Father because I do trust him completely. 

I also pray for him to give me strength to accept his will. I know there will be times when things happen that I can’t understand. So, I ask God to give me strength to accept his will, even though I’ll probably never understand it. In other words, I’m echoing the prayer of the dad in Mark 9:24, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 

Trust is a vital part of walking with God. If you’re going to follow him, you’re going to have to trust him.

What I’m talking about here is faith. By faith, I mean confidence that God is who he says he is and that he’ll do everything he says he’ll do.

Faith is a confidence that God can, that he loves you, and that if God chooses to he will, but if he chooses not to, he’s still your Heavenly Father, he’s still in control, and he still loves you.

So how’s your faith doing today? Is there anything going on in your life that’s forcing you to decide whether or not to trust God?

In the book of Joshua, we learn that sometimes living a life of faith means obeying God in doing things you could never do on your own. God leads you to a point where you must decide whether to trust him. Many times, God calls you to take the first step. 

At least back in my day, when it came to dating, guys were expected to take the first step. When I was 22, a new co-op student from Auburn showed up at work. Her name was Kim. I was smitten. So, I did what came naturally to me. I boldly asked our secretary to ask Kim if she would go out with me if I were to ask her out. I wanted to know if Kim would say yes before I went out on a limb and asked. Her response to our secretary was, “Tell Richard if he wants to know whether I’ll say yes he’s going to have to ask me.” So, I had to take the first step. Ugh. 39 years later, we’re still together.

There are times in life when God calls you to do something, and he says, “You trust me enough to take the first step, and I’ll show up.”

That’s what happened to Joshua. The people of Israel had left Egypt and were headed to the Promised Land. Because of a lack of faith, they’ve been wandering around in the desert for 40 years. 

But finally, the time has come. God is ready for the people to enter the land he promised them.

And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’” (Joshua 1:10-11)

The only hitch in the plan is the “pass over this Jordan” part. At this time of year, the river is wide and fast. No one could walk across it. There was no bridge. No boats they could get in. How were they going to cross?

Joshua tells the people: 

“And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” (Joshua 3:13)

That’s what I’m talking about. Sometimes, God calls you to do something, but he wants you to take the first step of faith. As soon as you do, he’ll do his work. But only after you take the first step. Here’s what happened that day at the Jordan: 

…and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.” (Joshua 3:15-16)

At some point in your life, you’ll face your own Jordan River. I believe one reason the church hasn’t made a greater impact is that far too many of us stay on our side of the Jordan, never moving a muscle until God moves first.

• “You take away my fear, God, and then I’ll step in.”
• “If you’ll give me the money first, then I’ll give some to you.”
• “You first guarantee me it will go well, and I’ll share the gospel.”
• “Promise me that I’ll keep my job, and I’ll let everyone at work know I’m a Christian.”
• “Let me know that I won’t pay a steep price, and I’ll stand up for the truth of your Word.”

Do you find yourself in any of those situations? Many of us are still sitting on the bank, waiting for God to part the Jordan so we can walk through. We’ve been sitting on the bank for so long that we like the bank. It’s safe. We may have even forgotten that God wants us off the bank and in the river. We’re happy and comfortable, but God wants so much more for us. If we’d only follow him in faith.

The first time I preached, I spoke to families of the children who had attended our church’s week-long Vacation Bible School. Each year, on the Sunday night after VBS, we invited all the children back with their families so they could see what their children had learned the week before. 

It was always fun, so several weeks before the event, I told my pastor, “Hey, the theme this year is faith, so the sermon on that final night needs to be about faith.” He replied, “Great! You’re preaching it.” Uh, no, I’ve never done that. I don’t do that. I have a horrible fear of public speaking. His response — “You’ll do great. Looking forward to it.”

The folks who wrote the Vacation Bible School curriculum even provided an outline for the message. It’s almost as if God was saying, “I’m going to part the Jordan for you, but only when you take the first step of getting up there and sharing my Word. But I’m swirling the water around for you, just so you can see that I’m here. That’s what that outline is doing for you.”

So, as I doubted the ability of God to overcome my inability in public speaking, I walked up to the pulpit that night and taught the people how to have faith. Ironic, isn’t it? I’d been living and breathing this message for weeks, as God used it in my life. Now I’m supposed to step out in faith and teach people how to do the very thing I was doing.

So, what did I teach about how to grow your faith? That’s for next time.

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