This month’s prompt comes from InScribe member
Sheila Webster. “We are all ordained and equipped to do good works…God doesn’t
give you all you need before you put your hand to the plough – but supplies you
along the way. The first inkling is the nudge to do something out of
your comfort zone.”
Plunging Into Faith
Sheila’s prompt packs a
powerful punch. She wrote so much in those
few words. As I reflected on the many times God has prompted me and the results,
I wondered how could I write this blog.
I felt like Rohadi Nagassar in
an earlier IWO blog: “I had to think about this, and then think about it again,
then think about it some more.” (Read it here). One day while walking to the
nearby coffee shop to work on this blog, God prompted me to take each element
in Sheila’s quote and elaborate on it.
“We are all ordained and equipped to do good works…”
What
does it mean that God ordains us? To answer that, I often think of God’s
explanation to the prophet
Jeremiah. “Before you were born, I set
you apart. I appointed you…” (Jeremiah 1: 5).
God created us for a purpose
and has special design for us. He chose us for this time in history, this
location, this family, and this environment. He gave us our
character, personality, and particular talents and abilities.
He
created us to continue His story of redemption for the world. As writers, we are His hands
and fingers on the keyboard.
We are His voice to speak or sing to the needs of the world. We are His feet to go where He calls us.
And
God has given us this task (ministry) of reconciling people to him. 2
Corinthians 5:18
“God doesn’t give you all you need before you put your
hand to the plough.”
Sheila’s metaphor from farming
is beautiful. I come from a farming background. On the first day my brothers plow or cultivate a field, all they need to
do to produce an abundant crop is to plow. Just so, as we take that first step,
plunging into faith, God gives us only what we need at that time. And just as God
causes a crop to grow during the rains and heat of summer, God gradually opens up
more and more of His plan.
In
all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs
3:6)
“The first inkling is the nudge…”
We’ve all experienced twinges
to do something: We may say, “I’d like to…” Or a direct word from scripture directs
us to take a plunge into faith.
Our response is to listen to God’s
deep twinges, in whatever form they take.
Sally Meadows’ advice at Fall
Conference 2016 comes to mind: Is God whispering to you, casting you in a new
direction? Pray into that vision.
Go…and you will be
told what you must do. (Acts 9:6)
“…to do something out of your comfort zone.”
And here’s the crunch.
Just
as we might experience a rise
of faith when God first prompts, we often come face-to-face with our
inadequacy. God’s plan
seems sooo big. Or we’re afraid of failure. Or we cover our
inadequacy by pushing our way into that venture using our own steam.
Sometimes I feel inadequate to write my monthly IWO
blogs. But if I focus on my inadequacy, I lose sight of God, His presence and power.
Joshua
must have felt the same way. However, as he prepared to lead his people into the Promised Land, God said, “As I
was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you.”
But
then He calls us to be strong. Three
times God told Joshua, “Be strong and courageous.” Three times—to underscore that He would go with Joshua and give him
victory. And God did just that. He is the God of the Impossible.
The One
who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. (1
Thessalonians 5:24)
Now all glory to
God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish
infinitely more than we might ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20)
“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD
Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6)
How
is God challenging you to plunge into faith? What is your next step?
