Become Brave in Your Faith

[quote]1 Peter 5:5-7 – All of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.[/quote] I love that last part of verse 7, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

As some of you know, I am in the midst of transitioning from an Executive full-time job to being obedient to the future.  I was talking with a friend of mine that I actually miss depending on God. What I mean when I say that is I miss Him feeling in the voids when it comes to our finances.  I miss those moments of sweet embrace knowing that God saw us through yet again.

I know, crazy, but I do. Especially looking back.

Why?

Because I had total and complete dependence on Him and not a paycheck. As scary or unknown the future looked like, I knew He was in complete control of our future.

Now don’t get me wrong. If we are in a position that we need to work to provide for our family, to put food on the table and a roof over our heads, then that is what we need to do and God honors that.

I’m talking about when you know God has put a desire in your heart that you know is what truly you are supposed to be doing, but depend more on the stability of knowing what is constant in your life instead of having the might (Isaiah 11:2) to take a step and trust Him to be your constant.

It’s as to imagine that God put something inside you, a calling, a gift, a story and you put it to the side.  You say to yourself, I’m just going to put it over here because I know this paycheck, this food binge, this prescription, whatever it is I need, allows me to know that everything is OK.

When we do this we disappoint Him.  God wants us to see Him bigger than that paycheck, that food binge, that prescription.  He is the Author and Finisher of our faith.  Not faith in the tangible but in the intangible.

[box]Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1[/box]

Today, I want to talk about 1 Peter 5:7. God says to cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.  I love what John Bevere said in his book Relentless.  He talks about as moms and dads we have a natural tendency to provide for our family.  To put food on our tables or take them to the doctors for good reports. Those are natural tendencies of being a provider.  John then explains how the word of 1 Peter 5:7 becomes active when we allow that natural provision to become a weight and how we need to put those cares upon Him. He says it this way, “to provide for my family was a valid and godly concern. However, if I had made this care my top priority, I would never have stepped out in obedience to God. That concern or care would have been the weight that would have greatly hindered my race."

Did you catch that?

How many want to finish their race with no weight, no concern, but a trust in Him to help you finish the race?

[box]Hebrews 12:1 (NLT) - let us strip off every weight that slows us down…. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.[/box]

If you are in that place where you’re not quite sure what your next step in life is or where to go from where you are, know you’re not alone.  My hope is that this has nudged you or served as a reminder to stay faithful to His desires. We may not understand all that's going on or wonder what's next; just know that you serve a God that is faithful and if God be for me, who can be against me.

What can I pray for you during your journey?