Walking by Faith

Growth isn’t easy.  What an understatement.  I’ve found that whether I’m going through a growing process as an individual, or as a family, or as a member of a corporate body the experience presents challenges of faith and determination.  It’s funny how much some people want to grow in all these areas, but when faced with the reality of decisions that need to be made in order to move forward they balk and would rather settle back into the apathetic comfort of a previous state.

If we want to grow we have to realize there is a process of movement, we can’t expect change without anything changing.  If you go back and look through the gospels, read about the calling of Jesus’ disciples.  You’ll find that Jesus merely would say “Come follow me” and in each circumstance the Disciple would drop what he was doing and begin following.  It could not have been easy, it literally cost them their lives, but the mere action of moving, following, choosing to leave everything behind and seek this new direction must have been incredible!

We’ll never know what it was like if we continue to be satisfied with the mundane. If we never step out in faith and try to do something of substance for the Lord, we’re missing out on the energy that comes from a life filled with faith.

I think many talk about faith in the sense of eternal expectations, but rarely do we consider that God expects us to walk by faith daily.  Not just in the sense of redemption, but in the sense of regeneration, sanctification, in actually living in a way that we put action to our convictions.  How do we really know if we have faith if we have never really done anything with it?

I’ve challenged our church to share the gospel with someone and bring that person to church.  Nothing earth shattering, something very practical.  I know though, that most people have never shared the gospel with anyone outside of those who are directly related to them.  We have gone most of our lives without leading one person to the Lord, and we expect others of a professional nature to do that type of work for us.  I’m not talking about asking someone to church so your pastor can lead them to the Lord, I’m talking about leading them to the Lord yourself and then bringing them to church!  Little different, not as easy, the process forces people out of their comfort zone.  But isn’t this the way God has designed the church to grow?  Not through programs or church services, but through people sharing their faith with other people God puts in their path.

If we want to grow, if we want our churches to grow, if we want our faith to grow we have to realize it requires action.  It’s not about comfort, it’s about courage.  It’s about having faith and stepping out of your comfort zone to actually do something greater than yourself, something that has eternal significance.  This is where I want to live, and I hope God continues to unite me with others who want to do the same.