Tag: move forward

Hesitate or Trust?

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “Reconnection”

Day 3: Trust

Let’s talk about hesitation for a minute. Without trust in God and his promises, we end up hesitating so much more, right? We hesitate and wait when we should be trusting and moving. Sometimes I wonder how many of Jesus’ disciples would have dropped their nets and followed him if they’d been able to check him out on Instagram before he showed up. Would they have even gone out to hear him speak if they’d watched all his YouTube sermons and read the negative comments left by people who critique sermons full-time? 

Hesitation is a consequence of believing we are in control. When it comes to God, since we have so many answers at our fingertips in Google, we crave more tangible assurance of God and his ways. And when the proof isn’t evident and doesn’t show up right away, what do we do? We start grasping at control to give us a false sense of safety. And our phones provide the means of that control. But while we’re waiting for all the answers we need to fall into place or endlessly researching the bottomless pit of information and opinions that is the internet, we end up frozen. Not moving. Not risking. Waiting for blessed assurance before we take one step toward where we were supposed to be going in faith a long time ago. . . . 

If you’ve been waiting for “the right time” to trust God and do the next thing, my question to you is, how much time are you spending in his Word versus your phone? Listen, I am the king of spending time with my phone, so I ask the question with no judgment. However, I do ask it with plenty of experience, and here’s why: when we aren’t connected to the world 24-7, we actually have to exist in a place of trust.

Prayer 

Father, I have often tried to have control over things that should only be in your hands. Please forgive me for not trusting you, and please prompt me to turn to you in all things. Amen.

My Thoughts

The author of the devotional is spot-on about my unending desire to control and to know what I want to know instantly. I use a search engine a lot, to check on meds and their side effect, to look up possible places to stay when we travel, even to check what the “hottest” gifts will be in case I want to purchase one before they are sold out. I had never thought of it before, but I can’t do a search on the reality of God. He is who He says He is and no search engine can convince me of that. It’s a heart thing. So, instead of hesitating and not moving when God tells me to, I need to trust and do what He says. I don’t think that there is any manmade search engine that has the Holy Spirit as its source, so trust won’t come from searching for it on a device. Trust comes from action, from doing the last thing God said to do and moving on to the next thing and the thing after that. I find when I am stuck in a rut and not moving closer to God, it’s because I am not trusting Him to go ahead of me and prepare the way. I want to control and He has control, so there is no contest about who will ultimately win that battle. The truth is that there should never be a battle between hesitating and moving forward with trust. I am not at the place where I trust all the time, without question or hesitation, but I will say that I am making progress, at least sometimes. I am more likely to hear that small voice say, “Trust” these days than I am to hear the other voice that says, “Does God really want you to do this?” I would like to say that I have arrived, but I am a work in progress.

Small Troubles

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

Whenever we are in the middle of a storm, it seems so vast and scary that we are overwhelmed by it. But as we come out on the other side and look back, we note that it wasn’t so bad after all. Why is that? I think that in the middle of the storm, we are focused on the storm, but when we come out on the other side, we are focused on moving forward. I also think that God wants us to keep our focus on moving forward with Him no matter what storms life may bring.

The Bible says that our present troubles, or storms, are small and won’t last long. Our perspective makes them seem bigger and then we start feeling helpless. We are never without God as our refuge and if we see the storms as opportunities to grow closer to God and to become more mature as a Christian, then we can move on from the storm and into the peace and calm that God wants us to always have. My problem is that I focus so much on the storm and the small troubles that I can’t seem to keep my eyes on the Lord. Once again, I have been rebuked by the Lord for my shortsightedness. It’s like getting up and stumbling around without my glasses. I know I should reach out to the table next to me and put them on, but I figure I will only be a minute in the bathroom or wherever, so off I go. And then I stumble over something that my nearsighted vision did not see. May the Lord be ever near me and help me to see the world and the small troubles through His eyes, that I may learn the lessons He can teach me through the troubles and that I may use that wisdom to help others!

The Spies Sent Out by Moses

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

By the time you get to Numbers 13 in your study of the journey of the Israelites through the wilderness, you should understand that the hearts of many of the people were still set on selfishness instead of on the Lord. God had saved them from slavery in Egypt, given them food to eat, kept them safe and still they whined and complained. So it is no surprise that when the representatives from each tribe were sent to do reconnaissance and bring back a report of what Canaan was like, most of the spies were negative and reported that there was no way that the Israelites could be victorious. Yes, the land was good and the food there was plentiful, but the enemy were giants. Thus, they were reluctant to go forward. Only Caleb from the tribe of Judah and Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim encouraged the people to continue forward, as lead by the Lord.

Caleb’s positive attitude did not come because he was confident in his own ability or in the ability of the warriors with Israel. Rather, he was confident in the might of the Lord. His certainty was strongly rooted in his faith in God. I want to be a Caleb in a land of naysayers who all want to stay right where they are, comfortably ensconced in a wilderness while God provides food, shelter, and clothing that never wears out. There’s nothing wrong with that, right? Of course, there is something wrong with that! The Israelites did not wander for forty years in the wilderness just to be content staying there! They were sent to occupy the Promised Land and it was ready for them to march in and take, but because of the unbelief and reluctance of some of the leaders, they had to stay in the wilderness for more years. Of those leaders, only Caleb and Joshua got to go into Canaan.

Sometimes life seems like a wilderness journey, but we get comfortable with those circumstances and although we don’t like them too well, we don’t want change to happen because we don’t know what the outcome of the change will be. Either we trust God to take us out of the wilderness into the new place that He has promised us or we don’t. Either we are a Caleb who sees God taking care of things for us or we stay where we are, moaning over the circumstances but reluctant to try to change them. Again, I want to be a Caleb. I don’t want to be stuck in the wilderness, moaning and whining and refusing to move forward. I don’t want God to leave me there because of my unbelief. Sometimes I have to take the time to pray for help with my unbelief and a new infusion of faith. Keeping records of past answers to prayer helps restore me and get me ready to move on. Do you want to move on with God or stay comfortably where you are, even though that is not God’s best for you? I know what my choice is and I hope that you are aware of the repercussions to making the wrong choice.

May the Lord bless you with the desire to want to be a Caleb in the middle of the wilderness of life and grant you the courage to move forward with Him. Not ahead of Him, not behind Him, but with Him as your guide into His very best for you!