Each of us is at a different place in our faith in God. Neither you nor I can change where we are in
this moment. I can’t spend my time
wishing I was further along. Where I am
is where I am. I can’t change yesterday
and I can’t predict tomorrow; but I can affect right now. The key is learning to find where you are now
and viewing that as your starting point.
Be realistic. Faith is now. Faith doesn’t live in the past. Take a good look at yourself and
realistically assess where you are in your faith. There is no condemnation or judgment needed. All that matters is where you find yourself,
because that is the perfect place to be right now.
Now that you realize where you stand, it is time to move. In terms of walking with God and living our
faith there is only one direction we should be moving. That direction is forward. We have no reason to retreat or stand
still. Many of us can attest to the
ineffectiveness of standing still.
Therefore, our choice is forward.
God is always calling us forward in our relationship with Him. This is growth. This is discipleship. This is our faith developing and allowing us
to continue to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 34 tells us that Josiah did what
was right in the eyes of the Lord and that he did so by walking it out.
The only time that you don’t move forward is when you are settled
into a comfort zone. I know from
experience how easy it can be to let that happen. You find yourself in a place in God that is
pleasant and appealing, and the easiest thing to do is to relax and become
stagnant. As Jesus was transfigured
before His disciples in Matthew 17 that was exactly Peter’s reaction: let’s pitch a tent and stay here. But when we stay in one place we sacrifice
God’s best on the altar of His good.
We often give up so much for so little.
But what happens when we do move forward with God and we come face
to face with an obstacle that seems impossible?
Think for a moment about the children of Israel and their exodus from
Egypt. It took a great amount of faith
for them to pack up and leave what had been their home for generations. It took a great amount of faith for them to
continue to journey in obedience to God.
But imagine the horror they must have felt when they found themselves
stuck between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army.
Recently the Lord asked me a question about this passage of
Scripture. He asked, “Do you think I was
surprised to find the Red Sea in their way?”
I had never thought of it in that way.
God had been leading them the entire way and had simply asked them to
follow Him. He could have chosen another
route that didn’t encounter the sea. God
knew full well that His people were going to come face to face with an
immovable object. As God is leading us,
He isn’t caught off guard when we encounter challenges or obstacles. He doesn’t fumble through a playbook to find
something else to do. He doesn’t pull
together a heavenly research team to redirect the path of His people. As God saw it the Red Sea wasn’t an obstacle,
it was part of the journey. Look what
Exodus says:
The angel
of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind
them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of
Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it
gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. Exodus 14:19-20
The children of Israel were led by a pillar of cloud by day and a
pillar of fire by night. When the pillar
moved, they would follow. The pillar
would always be in front leading them.
Consider this image for a moment:
the Israelites are standing before the Red Sea in fear as the Egyptians
are closing in from behind. The Angel of
the Lord and the pillar moved behind them while they passed through the
waters. That means the pillar of cloud
was already crossing the Red Sea. This
was the way God was going to take His people.
The Red Sea was simply part of the journey. It wasn’t a stop sign. It wasn’t a detour. As we move forward with God we cannot allow
barriers or obstacles to stop or detour us.
We should never call an obstacle what God says is an opportunity. We
cannot be dictated by difficulty – but directed by Divinity.
Do you remember what Moses said to the people?
But Moses
said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you
today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them
again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” Exodus 14:13-14
To Moses this seemed like the right thing to say and do. But it upset God. God was not upset that Moses told the people
that God would deliver them. God was
upset because Moses told the people to stand still. They were only to stand still when the pillar
was not moving. The cloud was still
moving, so they should be moving too.
Look at God’s response:
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you
crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.” Exodus
14:15
To God, standing still was not an
option. He said to go forward. The same is true for us. It doesn’t matter if we find ourselves in a
place that is comfortable or a place that is perilous; the only direction to go
from that place is forward. It was only
after the people stopped and Moses made his declaration that we find the pillar
moved from the front to the back of the people.
Their stopping was their own choice and not God’s directing.
It was almost as if God was moving behind
them to compel or push them forward, because they obviously were not responding
to His leading in the proper manner this time.
This is the only time we read about the children of Israel moving
without the pillar in front of them.
God’s direction is always forward.
And in those times when we don’t follow His leading from out in front of
us, He may very well move behind to compel us forward. Those steps of faith can be even more
treacherous or uncertain. The best response
from us is to always move forward with God leading from the front.
The result of starting from where you are in
your faith and moving forward is that you step into a new
place of freedom. For generations the children of Israel had
lived in slavery in Egypt. But in that
moment of walking forward they walked right into freedom.
Thus the Lord saved
Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the
Egyptians dead on the seashore. Exodus 14:30
Regardless of the condition of the place in
which you now find yourself, you do not have to stay there. You can move forward into a new place of
freedom. God desires to see us move
forward and progress in His Spirit to new places in Him (2 Corinthians
3:17-18). This is an ongoing and
cyclical process. Once you arrive at the
new place of freedom, it establishes in your life a new place of faith. That becomes your new starting point for
another step forward into a new freedom, and so the cycle continues. It is a lifelong process. Each of us has to take the steps on our own
and at our own pace. I encourage you to
move forward. Your steps forward will
impact your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers - everyone in your
life. As we move forward from faith into
freedom, we find ourselves becoming more and more fruitful. God’s process is perfect. Revival brings that into focus and keeps us
in step with Him.
This is an excerpt from "Carrying the Torch for Revival" - a book I am currently writing. You can preview this book HERE
