Part II
One of the sessions at Hearts at Home last weekend talked about figuring out what God’s plan is for you. But in the end, the speaker pointed out that we mostly need to look around and figure out what God wants us to do for Him - Today.
I know that God wants me to be at home taking care of my family Today. I know it is a big job to run my home and support my husband and be a good steward of the blessings God has granted to us.
And I know I worry too much about tomorrow.
But I’m pretty sure about today. In Jill Savage’s book Real Moms, Real Jesus when she is talking about turning Fear into Faith, she tells the story of Jesus walking out on the water, towards the boat. After Jesus tells them not to be afraid, Peter says “If it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.” Jesus says Go for it, and Peter walks. But then he looks down at the waves, he is overcome with fear, despite the fact that His Jesus is standing so close to him.
Jill identifies 9 things we can learn from this story, that can help us turn our own fear into faith. To get the full picture, you need the book. But I’m exploring some of them here so I can better understand my leap from Fear to Faith.
The first one is Obey Fully. When God tells you to do something, do it. Even if it doesn’t make sense to you in the long run. Trust God’s plan. Ok, so this is easier said than done. But I can look at what I know about what God wants me to do Today, and I can obey. I can try to focus on today. I can try to worry less about tomorrow and focus on today’s job. I can do that.
The second is to Accept God’s Comfort. Instead of resisting the obvious truths about my life, I can accept God’s peace and turn to His Word for comfort. Then I need to ACCEPT the comfort He gives, and not doubt that too.
Thirdly, she says Keep a Childlike Faith. Peter doesn’t rationalize before he asks Jesus to let him walk with Him. He just asks. He doesn’t analyze it and try to figure it all out on his own. He just has Faith. Uh, yeah. Less rationalization? Less analyzing? Less of me? More of Jesus. Ok.
Next Jill suggests we Listen for God’s Invitation. She says that Peter didn’t just jump, he waited for God to tell him to get out of the boat. “When we hear God’s direction and it is congruent with God’s truth and confirmed by believers around us, then we need to get out of the boat.” I believe we were listening to God’s direction when we moved over here. We were listening when I quit my job and we were listening when we strove to learn better principles about taking care of our money.
#5 is Get of the Boat. Ok, I got out of the boat. Basically I’m splashing around in the water right now feeling like I have to figure all this out on my own.
Man, I love metaphors. How much easier it is to see when I apply this to me – what I’m doing. I’m splashing around, trying to figure this out on my own. But Jesus is standing right there waiting for me to quit flailing my arms and acting like an idiot. He wants me to depend on Him to figure this out. He wants me to look in His eyes and say “I trust you.”
Which brings us to the next step. Keep Focused on Jesus. I’m looking at the mountains instead of the Mountain Mover. I’m looking at me, and this house, and money – instead of to my Comforter and my Strength. Do my kids have any doubt that we will be provided for? Do they think for a moment that we won’t be moving into our house someday – a safe and warm home that they can live and grow and play in? Nope. Not for a second. Jill says “When Peter looked down at the waves he couldn’t understand how he was actually walking on the water. Trying to understand from a human perspective caused him to lose faith.” Trying to understand from a human perspective – doing my analyzing and rationalizing – doesn’t help. It hinders.
#7 Grab God’s Hand. God sends me friends, devotions, books, articles, and mostly His Word – to help me see His face instead of the mountains of fear. He reaches out to me and, if I’m paying attention, I can Accept His Comfort (#2).
Lastly Jill points out that we should Recognize the Value of Storms in our Lives. “The storms in our life bring us into the deepest intimacy with God.” And she reminds us to Respond with Worship. The glory needs to be given back to God when He moves in our lives and provides for us and telling others our stories does that.
I guess I’ll go turn on some worship music and clean the basement.
I know you already told me the just of this post while we were talking today, but I'm glad I raead it for myself. Now, I need to go read that chapter in the book. Thanks for this, and just so you know, there is no doubt in my mind that you and Brad are going to be my neighbors soon, and probably for the rest of our lives. For this, I am thankful!
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