Wednesday, January 3, 2007
When you're taking a team of Native young people to nine different reservations - often in pretty remote places - you need a combination command post/prayer room/counseling room/supply room on wheels. Our rented RV served all those purposes. Now I'm still getting used to this RV thing. Some of them are like entire civilizations on wheels. They're actually in two zip codes everywhere they go. Ours was a lot simpler, but it did the job. One challenge for me was the distance from the RV to the ground. I think really that there may have been some mix-up at the factory and some NBA player got part of my legs. It looked like a long way to the ground for Mr. Vertically Challenged. But the RV had a cool feature. As I stepped out, a step automatically came up under my dangling foot and helped me land safely every time.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stepping into the Unknown."
Many times in my life, God has led me to do something that meant stepping out totally by faith. I couldn't see where the money was going to come from, the people, the solution. The Apostle Paul called it "going not knowing" ( Acts 20:22). All through the Bible, from Abraham leaving everything he knew, to Peter stepping out of a boat to walk on water, God's plan has repeatedly required stepping into the unknown. You may be at one of those "going not knowing" moments right now.
Here, in 12 simple words, is why you can risk taking the step. It is God's guarantee, from the God who's never broken a promise. That promise is recorded in 1 Thessalonians 5:24, our word for today from the Word of God. Here it is: "The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it." That's all you need to know. God will not leave you stranded in the middle of His will. What He calls you to do, He'll enable you to do. What He leads you to do, He will provide for you to do. He's your security. Not a paycheck. Not people you've depended on. Not your safe little nest. Not your abilities. It's not the water that's going to support you, Peter, it's Jesus!
The God who calls you to step into the unknown will bring His support underneath you as you step. Not before you step - as you step. You have His word on it. Deuteronomy 33:27 guarantees you that "the eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."
When God asked us to leave the ministry organization that had been our ministry vehicle since we started, we were leaving an office, a staff, a support base, and a large network of relationships. We left that for no office, no staff, a tiny support base and a whole starting over well into our lives. That's how this ministry began. I said to my wife, "Honey, this is a risky obedience." I thought about what I'd said for a moment, and I corrected myself: "Wait! That's an oxymoron. There's no such thing as a risky obedience - only a risky disobedience." And that's the truth!
God has given His word that He will "equip you with everything good for doing His will" ( Hebrews 13:21); that "my God will supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" ( Philippians 4:19). So what are you worrying about? But just like our RV, the support doesn't come until you take the step. Because "without faith it is impossible to please God" ( Hebrews 11:6).
There was a poet a long time ago who summed up how faith in a God like ours works: "The steps of faith fall on the seeming void and find the rock beneath." That's what will happen to you if you take the step.