Some days I have more faith in my doctor, in the factory workers at Honda and the engineers at Apple than I do in Jesus.
There are plenty of things in my life that I trust implicitly even though I don’t understand them or know everything about them.
I don’t have any idea how medicine works, but I will swallow anything that a doctor prescribes for me.
What goes on beneath the hood of my car is a complete mystery to me, and yet I will drive across the country without worry.
The technology inside my phone is beyond the level of my understanding, yet I rely on it blindly to communicate critical information to loved ones in a split second, remind me to do important things, and provide me with accurate driving directions.
And yet, because I can’t see all that God has laid our for me, or understand his reasoning, or feel the comfort of an assured outcome, I withhold my trust and submission. Some days I have more faith in my doctor, in the factory workers at Honda and the engineers at Apple than I do in Jesus.
But of course, that is irrational. When has he lead me astray and caused me pain? When has he pulled his presence from me and turned his back on me? When has God left a promise unfulfilled in my life?
The truth for me, and I suspect for you as well, is that as cliche as it sounds, God is the one constant in my life. He is the one true light that has yet to change or go out. He is the only thing I have ever come across that is worthy of my full trust, my unwavering faith, my whole submission.
He is worthy of my trust because he gives me what I need. Not what I want sometimes, but always what I need. When I thought I needed a job, he knew that what I really needed was to define my worth in him first, then from there develop a new heart for ministry that would lead to a better job than anything I was chasing. When I thought I needed a life full of adventure and travel and the next big experience, he knew that what I really needed was to see the world from his eyes, to understand that natural beauty of mountains and lakes and seas and cities is not for my own consumption but to understand how grand a creative and beautiful he really is.
You get the idea. He knows what we need. He knows that when it comes to our life, we need only to take the next step of faith. We don’t need the whole plan or a clear picture of exactly how it will end. How overwhelming and crippling would that be, to see our entire future laid out before us?!
If the Magi had been shown in a vision or a dream a picture of a baby born to common parents in a dirty barn, do you think they would have packed up their most precious gifts and journeyed across the world? God showed them the star in order to show them the baby. And he shows us our next step in order to show us something better beyond that.
That is not to say that God deceives us. No, all the more beautiful is that he knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows that we couldn’t comprehend the entirety of our life laid in front of us. So he shows where to place our foot next. Or sometimes he simply equips us to take a step on our own, knowing full well that if we rely on what he has given us and equipped us with, we will take a step that honors him.
So think this week about a step of faith that is in front of you. Has God been showing you something that you’ve tried to ignore? Has he been equipping you to make a decision, but you’ve been stalling or focusing on other things? What could be more important to spend your time on than sitting in his presence and taking that step of faith? He is worthy of our submission and trust. He is the light we can see.
