stepping out on faith is one of the most terrifying and freeing things you could ever do. let me explain.
faith is completely terrifying. just think about it. when you step out on faith, you are basically saying that you believe that the other person has your best interest in heart and will take care of you. you are completely relenting control. for the control freak in me, that is a foreign concept. in my sinful nature, i believe that only i can make clear decisions about my life. giving someone else that power is absolutely terrifying.
but faith is also so freeing. you don't have to worry about anything because you know that someone always has your back. someone always has your best interest at heart and wants the absolute best for you. you know that you can trust this person.
it is so amazing to me how even though it is completely terrifying for me to relent control of my life over to God, it always turns out better than i could have ever imagined. i submitted my application today to spend next summer in uganda. most terrifying moment of my life... okay just kidding. there have been worse. but now i have to wait. and pray that God would make his plan for my summer completely obvious. but i know that whatever happens is going to be God's best for everyone involved. because He promises it. He assures me that everything will work out for my good and for His glory.
i was reading in acts 4 a couple days ago. great stuff by the way. in this section, peter and john are before the sanhedrin after being thrown in jail for preaching the gospel. pretty terrifying if you ask me. i don't know about you but i have never been thrown in jail for telling a friend what God has been doing in my life. i can't imagine the stress they would have gone through. but even in the midst of the unknown and stress, the bible says they were still faithful. peter and john were given a chance to speak before the sanhedrin after their jail time. in acts 4:13, the bible says, "when they [the sanhedrin] saw the courage of peter and john and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with jesus." when the sanhedrin saw peter and john, they undoubtedly knew that the strength they possessed was not their own. what a TESTIMONY to how great our God is!
later on in the chapter, there are two verses that just jump out at me. the first is acts 4:20, "for we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." peter and john said that to the sanhedrin after they were asked to no longer preach the truth of jesus. they basically told the men of the sanhedrin that they could try to shut them up but our God is so good that there is no way that they could stop sharing the good things He had done in their lives. and the second verse is acts 4:31, "after they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. and they were all filled with the holy spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." i pray that i can have the same god-given strength that peter and john had. that God would give me the courage to pray so boldly for the salvation of my friends and neighbors. that God would give me the courage to never stop speaking about what i have heard and seen. because where people make themselves available, the lord moves.
i just want to leave you with this video. it's a video of chris tomlin and all these people from all around the world singing How Great Is Our God (just click the song title). it is enough to move anyone to tears and i have a feeling that this is what heaven will be like. hope this is finding y'all in a good time. be encouraged by these words!
