for the past six weeks or so, i have very distinctly heard, with my heart, a whisper repeating, “hold on.
be patient.
be faithful until you don’t feel you can have faith anymore…then be strong just a little longer, and everything will work out.”
i truly believe, with all my heart, that things will totally fall into place.
they always do.
it’s hard for us, however, to be so confident sometimes.
sometimes, life seems to be going in a million directions other than the way we think it should…or will…or planned.
or sometimes the timing is just all off. we want to believe God’s working His magic…but could He please just pick up the pace a little?
instead of acknowledging that patience is a virtue and resting confidently and faithfully in God’s plan, we jump in “just to help out real quick.”
very helpful, right?
umm…not quite.
i don’t even want to begin counting the number of times i’ve done exactly that…and made a complete mess of things.
so, what i’ve been trying to do more intentionally is this: when situations come up where i want more than anything to “fix it” myself, i focus on Matthew 14:22-31…specifically line 31 when, after Peter begins walking on the water and then sinks a little, he immediately panics and calls out to Jesus.
Jesus’ response to Peter, after reaching a hand out to catch him, is “you of little faith…why did you doubt?”
how often do I do exactly that – have faith until something causes me to falter just a little.
then all of the sudden i’m focused on the minute thing that caused me to falter instead of keeping my eyes focused on Jesus.
it’s so easy to do…yet so damaging to my relationship with him.
so my exercise is to practice keeping my focus on Jesus no matter what.
if something doesn’t go the way i thought it would or the way i wanted it to, then God is simply preparing my path in a direction different than i imagined.
i have committed to jumping straight into whatever He calls me to, and that doesn’t mean i get to test the water first.
in the midst of all my pondering Matthew and my commitment to living out my faith, a wonderful friend shared a quote with me that really struck her…and wouldn’t ya know it struck me, too!
it’s from the book
Treasures of a Transformed Mind:
“imagine the looks on the faces of the other disciples as Peter stepped onto the water. he didn’t just stick one foot out and keep the other in the boat. faith is never putting one foot out and checking it. faith is a decision, a cutting off from where i am and stepping, with risk, into the place where Jesus is inviting me. the
only way to walk on water is to put both feet out there and trust Jesus. faith involves letting go of every form of security, trusting God completely and without reservation.”
