Forward in Faith

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. Hebrews 11:8


Not trying to act like Abraham or anything but 7 months ago I was called to leave my area of comfort and join the corporate world at LifeWay Christian Resources in customer service. I was asked to take a position that would be a 6 month assignment with the POSSIBILITY of being offered a permanent position. Very scary. Very not interested. I have been a hairdresser for 22 years and it takes a long time to build a clientele. I began to pray about what I should do. I asked my husband and my parents what THEY thought I should do. Finally, my husband said to me "Steph, I know you have been praying about this. What is God telling you to do?" And in that moment I knew. God had been saying one thing to me over and over. It was "Take each step forward in faith."

I knew at that moment that He wasn't promising that things would turn out the way that I thought they should. Things would turn out the way HE thought they should and that I would be ok because HIS ways are better than my own. I have had moments of being very afraid and stressed.  I have had moments of thinking that I was in control. (ha)
Resoundingly, I have rested in the knowledge that HE knows what is right and best. I have no idea what the future holds for me. This has been a huge leap for me and lots of adjustment for my husband, our son, and my family and friends. I have seen our son have to adjust to lots of new and crazy things. My husband has stepped in and helped out when I was overwhelmed. My family has stepped in and been "mom" when I had to be at work. As crazy as it has all been, I have never been happier. Simply because I am where God wants me. Tomorrow He may want me somewhere else. Newer. Scarier. Less comfortable. But in the end I choose to trust in HIM. I am choosing each day to take each step forward in faith. 

Hebrews 11:6
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. 

I want to please Him. Because He is. 

Made For More

“You were made for more than this.”

I was driving home from a women’s event one night and I felt The Lord speaking this into my heart over and over again.  As I thought about what He might have meant, I asked “What do you mean by ‘this’?”

“This” was defined for me by thoughts of:  “just being a mom”, “just being a wife”, “just getting up and going to work, church, etc...” Just getting up and going through the motions of getting by in life. JUST.

I know that this Word from The Lord came as a direct result of something I had felt as I sat under the teaching of my dear friend and mentor, Jeneen Kohler (founder of Repairing the Breach Ministries). As she taught from God’s Word, I was burning on the inside. I am a fellow teacher of God’s Word and a discipler by nature and gifting of the Holy Spirit but I have not been as serious about it as I know I am supposed to be.  So, I know that this Word was in direct relation to me being made to teach.

It got me thinking though.  YOU are made for more as well.  Just as my “this” is different from yours, so is my “more”. What “more” are you made for? What is your “this”?

As I study God’s Word, I am led to Ephesians 1:3-10. The apostle, Paul, writes this,

  ^3” Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he  predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”

God has made known to us what His will is. His will is to “bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” So as I ponder my “more” and my “this”, I understand that, as a follower of Jesus Christ that has had riches lavished upon me by His grace, I need to be about the will of my Father.  My “this’ has to line up with things that will bring everything to unity in Christ. That is why I am made for more. And so are you.