Many times I find myself unsure about the future, of where God wants me to go, if the next step I'm about to take is right, or even if I am brave enough to let go and let God have full reign of my life. We seek to be in control of our situations all the time, forcing God to become the background when really he should be the one in the foreground leading us. I believe that this is because we are reluctant people to step into the unknown and trust that everything will turn out alright, that everything will turn out the way we had imagined that they would; although I'm not saying that they'll turn out exactly how we've imagined. And when things don't turn out the way we had thought they would we seep even further into the depths of fear and are even more reluctant to step out; we get stuck in the kiddie pool when really we need to go to the deep end.
We need to at least take one step of courage, one step is what is needed to start a ripple effect that will last a lifetime, but that is only if we allow God to take control and steer for us. This is easier said than done, to not let your emotions, feelings, or wants to persist and become the things that drive your decisions and choices and instead stepping back and letting go; giving it up to the One who created you. However, to be able to do this it requires unwavering faith. Being able to trust so completely and wholeheartedly that God has the ultimate plan and ideal life for you is hard to do but as the Bible says in Hebrews 11:1, 2
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see…so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."
We can have confidence knowing that if we allow ourselves to have unwavering faith in the unseen work that God is doing in our lives right now and in the future we can have unwavering courage. Because God is with us!
This however, is not to say that we wont have our fears and doubts but, what I am trying to get at is if we don't allow those fears and those doubts to overpower our daily lives then we can have courage and confidence in the work that God is doing. Both men and women are crippled by the fear of not measuring up. For you guys that tends to mean not measuring up in "manliness" for us gals that means not measuring up in beauty. Whatever it may be that we feel like we are not measuring up to it cripples us so much so that we are willing to put on masks and hide behind our personalities, we are unwilling to reveal who we really are. But, then a question comes to mind what would you do if you were not afraid?
To have unwavering courage we need unwavering faith and to have unwavering faith we need to give God our all not just some, not just part, but our all. Thankfully God is one who is ever so patient who will wait for you with open arms calling to us. I feel like for a lot of us we are holding back one thing that we think we can control and that one thing could be anything; family, friends, relationships, sports, music, school, hobbies, the way we look, etc. When I hold back that one thing I am holding back God being able to change me. Because He is working from the inside out that means then that He will change me as I give Him my all. He not only wants my all but He deserves my all, for He gave me His all for me; His son Jesus. My question then for you is are you holding something back from God, are you giving him your all?
To say that nothing bad will happen to you in a broken world is impossible to say. What we can do though is live our lives out for the almighty God who knows you, who loves you, and is giving you His all every second of every day. So why wouldn't you want Him to be in charge? You should never say "God is my co-pilot" rather "God is my pilot, he is my navigator through this broken world." We all need to grow in our maturity with Him but that first starts with you taking the first step, we need to gain knowledge and get into His word, our guilty pleasures will need to change, the way that we act and say will need to change, and being able to say its not about me will need to change. Our daily outlook will need to change; being willing to say that because God is with me my day will turn out right.
Are you going to make excuses? Are you going to say well maybe tomorrow or are you going to get up and take a step of courage? Remember you are not doing this alone, you are in a partnership with God who is in the process with you. Satan will say to you though that you can't do it, you won't be able to do it. When you are hearing those lies you can reply Jesus is able, He is able!
So what are you waiting for step up and step out with courage!
