Faith, Walks

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” - ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬

When I was younger and learning how to cook in the kitchen with my parents, I used to be so pedantic in trying to understand the measurements. I would constantly ask my parents ‘how much of this spice?’ ‘ok, but how many teaspoons of this seasoning?’, and my parents would always say ‘I can’t tell you, we don’t measure when cooking, everything is trial and error’ and at the time I used to be so frustrated with that answer.

My desire to be perfect - and every other desire underpinned with the fear of failure - made me feel the need to know every step, every measurement, and have every instruction plainly told to me.

And this followed me into my Christian walk; I would be so fearful to take any step unless the Lord explicitly told me. I used to pray that the Lord would manifest Himself, sit on the end of my bed and tell me ‘my daughter, I want you to do xyz’. And if He didn’t, then I needed someone else in human form to tell me exactly what to do.

I’m sharing this story, because I know there is someone else out here, perhaps reading this newsletter, and you are in the same position. Scared to disappoint God, scared to disappoint yourself - needing every decision accounted for, every teaspoon measured out.

But that is bondage. Overcautiousness, Steps measured to the millimetre, procrastination and decision-paralysis masking itself as ‘waiting on the Lord’ is bondage.

There is truly freedom in Christ, just as there is freedom in cooking - You wont always get the meal right; it may be too salty some days, and too spicy others, but there will be days where the meal is perfectly seasoned.

And even when the meal is not quite right, there are many ways to correct the taste.

As is with the Lord. There are days when we will hear the Lord clearly, and walking in obedience is as easy as breathing, and there are days where we may feel as though we cannot hear the Lord at all, and the decisions we want to make are like guess work. Thus is the life of faith; not always knowing if we are walking in the right direction, but not stifling ourselves in the fear that we might not be.

Much of our lives as Christians are lived in hindsight; we may not understand how or when, but God will work everything out together for good. He takes our wrong turns, realigns our path  and steadies our unsure footsteps.

The truth is, that Faith, Walks. (James 2:14-26) Faith steps out and does the work. Faith releases that song, even when scared no-one will listen. Faith starts the business, even when it seems like an impossible feat. Faith walks because ‘God said’, even if anything else looks impossible.

Faith, walks.

So I encourage you, to step out in faith today, walk with God, knowing that even if you make a mistake, God will work it out. But He is proud of you for stepping out in faith. For trusting in Him and for the genuine desire to walk with and please Him.

Even if the execution wasn’t quite right.

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” - ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭30‬:‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬