Trusting God takes Courage
Jos 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Trusting God takes courage. It really does. We humans were designed with the capability to reason. To think. To work out our own problems. We were designed to, as Clint Eastwood said, "adapt, improvise, overcome". But then comes the time when all we can do is trust our Creator.
In times like that, we are tempted to say, "Are you sure about that, God?" Do you think God gets angry when we have the audacity to question Him? I don't think so. He designed us the way we are. He designed us to stand on our own two feet and work out our problems ourselves. But sometime, we just can't. Its then that we can only muster enough courage to trust Him.
When God told Moses to lead the Children of Israel out of Eygpt into a hot, forbidding wilderness, Moses answered, "Are you sure about that, God?" After alot iof prodding, Moses did the only thing He could do. He trusted. He found the courage to do what God asked Him to do. That took courage.
When Elisha told the leprous Naaman to go and dip himself 7 times in the muddy waters of the Jordan River, he balked, "Are you sure about that, God?". But, he found the courage to trust God. It takes courage to trust the Unseen. If you don't think so, try walking up to a rank stranger and ask them to hold your credit cards or checkbook for one week. Go ahead. Be courageous. Nah, don't do that, beacuse that makes about as much sense as dipping yourself in a muddy river 7 times.
But, thats just it. Trusting God doesn't make sense either sometimes. It didn't make sense for Jesus to tell Peter to step out of a nice warm and dry boat to walk on water. But Peter courageously trusted the Voice of the Lord. His desire to walk with Jesus outweighed his need for the safety of the boat. And thats where courage comes in. When our desire to walk with, or to please and trust our Master outweighs our commonsense, that we have found the courage it takes to trust God. Oh, I know, Peter got out on the water, took his eyes off the Lord and sank like a stone. But that happens when we lose sight of Jesus. But- at least he found the courage to trust God enough to step out of that boat.
It takes courage to travel into unseen and unfamiliar places. But thats what faith is. It is the evidence of things hoped for, the substance of things not seen. Faith= Courage+ Trust. Think of the people in
Hebrews 11. Those we call the "Heroes of Faith". They were courageous in their trust in God. They seldom knew the outcome of the endeavor- but they trusted God. What faith! What courage!
Are you asking God, "Are you sure about that, God?" Don't think God is going to swat you down like a pesky house fly for asking. He expects you to. And, He'll give you the courage to trust Him. He gave Joshua the courage to lead the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. He gave Elijah the fortitude to stand his ground against King Ahab. He gave Daniel the courage to face a den full of hungry lions. He gave Paul the courage to face prison, beatings, shipwrecks and even death for the Gospels sake.
Just...trust. Take that leap of faith. Venture into the unknown at God's bidding. Step out on that water. You may not see Him, you may not have the assurance that He is there. But, He is. Just...trust Him. And you will do okay.
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