You don’t have to be Superman to walk the life of faith!
I travelled with the aid of God’s power, Who guided me successfully on my way, and I had nothing to fear, until I arrived at that ship.
– Patrick, Confession (British, 5th century)
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.”
– Matthew 14.28, 29
My all-time favorite Miss Manners reply was to a young girl going to her first prom, who asked Miss Manners how to walk in high heels:
“Right foot, left foot; right foot, left foot.”
That’s a perfect description of the life of faith. Jesus does not expect us to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He calls us to come to Him, one step at a time, over unfamiliar paths according to the leading of His Word.
Patrick was describing his flight from slavery – a 200-mile journey over unknown terrain. But he wasn’t afraid. His only responsibility was the next step eastward, and he kept taking those steps until he reached the coast and the ship that God had prepared for his deliverance.
What’s the “next step” for you? God may not be calling you today to lead your co-laborer to a saving knowledge of Christ. But is He calling you to pray for that person every day? To learn and use his or her name? To try to become a gracious and positive presence in that person’s life?
God may not be calling you to start a ministry, but is He leading you to minister His grace to the people right around you today? By word and deed? Or to share with some ministry of choice the resources God has entrusted you for the advancement of His Kingdom?
Sometimes the next step will not be a familiar or comfortable one. But it’s only a step! If it turns out to be a wrong step, you can easily retrace and start again.
If our vision in life is the upward prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and if we are determined to hear His Word faithfully, and to obey it diligently, we will be able to identify the next steps we need to take, and our faith will grow and become stronger step by step, day by day.
You don’t have to be Superman to walk the life of faith! You just have to be faithful, right foot/left foot, one step at a time.
Superman, Who lives in you, will take it from there.
T. M. Moore, tmmoore@ailbe.org
