Habakuk 2:4 & 3:17-19
2:4 Behold, the proud, His soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.
3:17-19 Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—YET I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.
Have you ever been at a place in your life when you needed answers on the next step to take and yet God seemed to be silent? I’ve been at that proverbial fork in the road many times in my life. I would plead with God to show me which road to take and more times than not He seemed to be silent. Sometimes, I’ve found myself frozen with inaction – fearing the catastrophic possibilities I had played out in my mind by taking the wrong fork. Other times, I closed my eyes tight and stepped out only to find that I had made the right decision and the Lord “took it from there”.
Scripture teaches us that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord but Scripture doesn’t say that every single step has an arrow on it showing the next one to take.
I would contend that our inaction is simply fear of making a mistake and not a lack of the Holy Spirit’s leading. We, many times, want to say that God is silent because this takes the responsibility of stepping out off of us and puts all the responsibility on God – we aren’t stepping because He’s not leading. Actually, I believe quite the opposite to be true. I believe that many times God is waiting on us to be willing to put the first step forward, in faith, not having all the answers, because by doing so we are putting our faith into action. Once we have decided to take the step and trust the results to Him we see His majestic work play out in the story line of our lives.
I’m not advocating walking blindly and expecting God to bless regardless of which direction we choose. I believe it is our responsibility to first diligently seek Him about the decisions facing us. But after doing so, WE must take the step of faith. So many times that is all that is needed for God’s sweet peace and comfort to be ushered into the situation. By His silence He is simply asking – Do you trust Me enough to step?
Peter knew that Jesus was the Son of God on that fateful night on the turbulent sea but it was PETER who had to step out, in faith, on the water, trusting that Christ would be there to meet him.
In Hebrews 11 – the “faith” chapter – several Old Testament saints are listed and after each of their names was an action. By faith Abraham obeyed, by faith Abraham offered, by faith Isaac blessed, by faith Moses chose to suffer affliction, by faith he forsook Egypt….do you see the pattern here? Each one of these saints had faith but each one also followed up with ACTION.
Do you need an answer or breakthrough? Have you earnestly prayed and sought God in the situation? Is the next step for you to step out in faith? If you have taken the wrong step God WILL reveal that to you and WILL slam the doors shut but you won’t know as long as you fail to put feet to your faith.
Notice that the title of this devotional is STEPPING by faith not WALKING by faith. Because we need to learn to step before we can walk – and as you take each step, by faith, you will see your faith begin to grow. You will learn, with each step, that God is faithful and will not fail you. Just as an infant grows in confidence with every step he takes so our faith grows stronger with every action we put to our faith – learning and then KNOWING that God will be there to meet us each STEP of the way!!
