Hope First预览

DO SO 

Think about how many things in our culture we’ve added a step-by-step process to, “Top Ten Ways To…” grow your faith, lose ten pounds, or become more organized. There’s probably a step-by-step list floating around for just about anything we want to improve on. So we read the articles, absorb all the information we can, and make a to-do list to tackle whatever that goal is. But for some of us, that’s where it stops. When the time comes to take action, we get stuck and struggle to take the first step. 

The same thing often happens when we feel God place a calling in our hearts. When we first feel Him call us to something new, we get excited, and dream of what the outcome will be. However, we may feel the need to be an expert in the thing God has called us to do, and there may not be an easy step-by-step guide on the internet about how to follow your specific calling. We wait, and listen, and pray, and do anything we can to get more information, but we never do the one thing God has asked us to do: just start. 

1 Peter 4:10-11 says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”

Did you catch the key phrase in that verse? It’s “do so.” It doesn’t say, “If anyone speaks, they should wait until they’ve listened to ten podcasts, completed a five-step program, and earned a degree in their field.” This is a passage of action. God doesn’t need you to be an expert in your calling, He just wants you to take the first step and rely on Him to show you what comes next. When we trust Him to guide us and spend time seeking His direction, He turns us into the person we need to be to start and continue the job. With God guiding our paths, we don’t have to be worried about failure. He is ready to catch us when we stumble, and He will set us back on our way. The podcasts, the helpful tips, and the to-do lists are all great supplements to help us learn and become stronger in our faith, but the only way to truly follow after God’s call on our life is to simply begin. It’s like getting behind the wheel of a car for the first time. We can spend months studying the rules of the road, but we’ll never really know how to drive until we get behind the wheel and step on the gas. It may be scary, but after that first ride, we gain the confidence and freedom to do it again. When we finally step into action, God equips us to accomplish all He has planned. Don’t spend so long writing your goals in your notebook that you forget to actually start. Just do so. 

PRAYER

God, thank You for always being there to guide my path. Thank You for not expecting me to be an expert in all things, but for giving me exactly what I need. Help me to trust you and follow You in what You have called me to do. Please give me the courage and faith to take that initial step of obedience - I want to be a person of action. In Jesus’ name, Amen.