What we do to see God show up.
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations…
Deuteronomy 7:9 ESV
Faith in action.
For years I wrote six days a week on a blog because I believed He called me to do it. But some days… there just seemed to be… no words… Nothing to write.
Yet, in a spirit of obedience, trusting Him to show up, I sat before the keyboard and listened… In response to my act of faithfulness (showing up), He showed up. Words would come.
God constantly amazes me with His faithfulness!
It is truly something we can put our faith in.
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for;
it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:1 NLT
Faith calls for action.
A step into the unknown. unseen. unsure.
Yes, faith is set on the reality, the surety, of what we hope for (God showing up), but I confess in the act of stepping out, I often experience doubt tinged with fear. Self speaks to spirit: Are you crazy!
God knows this about those who put their faith in Him. He knows we are fragile clay pots, men made of dust, so He says to us as He said to Joshua when he led God’s people into the promised land:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9 NIV (emphasis added)
A call to courage.
God calls us to be courageous in our walk of faith, have a character steeped in courage. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines courage as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.”* Being courageous implies the presence of fear which by faith we are called to stand against because God promises to be with us wherever He leads.
Faithful action is intentional. Stepping out into uncomfortable unknowns despite how we feel. It’s about trusting God’s faithfulness to show up when we take the steps He calls us to take. Into deep waters (Joshua 3:14–17) and stormy seas (Matthew 14:25–29).
Faith is an act of trust.
Do you trust He called you?
Do you trust He is with you?
Do you trust He is trustworthy to show up when you do?
Do you trust Him with the outcome?
Hope in Him.
Sometimes in our efforts to trust, we place our hope in the outcome we desire. Steps of faith taken with this attitude can leave us disappointed. When things don’t turn out the way we hoped, it looks like He didn’t show up. The truth is we aren’t always faithful to trust Him with the results of our obedience. Instead of putting our hope in Him alone, we put our hope in what we desire and miss what He is doing.
Picture the disciples on the run after Jesus’s arrest. Their faith in Jesus as Messiah rested on a hope of an earthly kingdom, defeat of the enemy and reinstatement of the nation of Israel to its previous worldly glory. Even though He told them it would go down this way, their hope was not firmly placed on Him, so they missed what He was doing on the cross. in the tomb. on the day the stone was rolled away.
Our hope must be firmly settled in God — Father, Son, Spirit — no matter what the result of our faith actions look like. He is trustworthy however things play out because He sees what we don’t. The end from the beginning.
Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge!
How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!
For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to give him advice?
And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?
For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.
Romans 11:33–36 NLT
A life formed by faith.
When we take faithful action based on the truth of who He is, we can’t help but be formed into one who trusts Him more fully with each step of faith. Trusting in Him. Hoping in Him. Putting faith in Him and not ourselves. Leads us to the ultimate life. The fundamental way of living abundantly in His Kingdom.
For in him we live and move and exist.
Acts 17:28 NLT
God’s presence and faithfulness are revealed through our acts of faith.
Whatever the call, the faith to step out meets His faithful action.
We see Him show up, when we look with eyes of faith.
Sure of what we hope for. Certain of what we do not see.
How are you when it comes to taking steps of faith? fearful? hopeful? unsure? unwilling?
What do you think about the idea of His showing up depending on our faithful action?
Take time to wrestle with Him in prayer regarding your feelings about the unseen Reality in which He calls us to live and serve. Ask Him for the courage to take faithful action for His glory.
*Inc Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003).
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