Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. had an incredible gift with words and this quote has been so powerful to me. In the simplest way it describes unwavering faith. If you can see the destination then you really aren’t operating out of faith, but your OWN understanding and reason. When you are taking that first step and completely unsure of what lays ahead in your path, that my friends is true faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7 For we live by faith, not by sight.

We are to move forward in God’s promises in faith. We are not to persevere under our own understanding, logic or sight. We are to trust fully in our Lord.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Again in Hebrews, the Bible affirms that faith is not in what we are able to see, but complete confidence in God to provide what we hope for. Make no mistake it needs to be in alignment with God’s will, he isn’t going to grant you 7 unicorns and a mountain of gold. However, as long as we our in line with our Lord we need to stand firm in our faith and trust in him.

James 1:5-7 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But WHEN YOU ASK, YOU MUST BELIEVE AND NOT DOUBT, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

We are reminded again in James to believe and not doubt. When we let doubts creep in (which is so easy to do), it is exactly as the scripture says – our mind begins to be thrown about from one anxiety to the next. I have been known to be pretty good at going down the trail of unknown “what ifs”. The Bible is so brutal here and is clearly not playing around! It says if we allow our mind to succumb to doubt that we should not expect to receive ANYTHING from the Lord. Ouch! That is so harsh! The Bible doesn’t mince words here though, God leaves NO ROOM for doubt. We must have faith and trust in him completely.

I have come to a place in my life where I honestly believe that God will work everything out for good. It doesn’t mean that I always enjoy the journey, but I know without question that he is strengthening me through it. I ultimately trust his plans will prevail and they will be better than anything I could have cooked up on my own. Even though I know this to be true, there are things in my life that are difficult for me to believe are going to work out to glorify God. These scriptures have really been resonating with me these last few days and reminding me I cannot doubt God’s ability.

Perhaps I am jaded because of my blended family. There are many days that I wonder if we can ever overcome the scars of divorce; being surrounded by less than optimistic teenagers probably isn’t helping in this. I wonder if family and friends will come to know Christ and it is hard sometimes to even imagine the circumstances that would change such hardened hearts. I know that God is so much bigger than any problem and I know he is capable, but if I am honest the doubt trickles in and it is hard to walk forward in hope in those moments. These are the times that I can relate to being blown about and tossed by the wind. The reality that I can SEE in front of me seems so much larger than my faith in those moments. I am utterly embarrassed to even admit it, but it is true. Can you relate? Just when it seems like we have failed once again and there isn’t much hope, we come to the wonderful scripture in Matthew.

Matthew 17:20 Jesus replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

If we can just scrape together faith as small as a mustard seed, then NOTHING will be impossible! THIS ENCOURAGES ME. If you have never seen a mustard seed, just trust me they are TINY! I don’t have to have the immoveable faith David had to go against Golliath the Giant to be successful, I can barely have any faith at all and it is enough. The tiniest bit of faith in our God is enough for anything to be possible.

Matthew 21:21-22 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

1 Peter 1:6-9 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.