Stepping out in faith

I used to think that I knew what it meant to take a step of faith. I have had to make decisions in my life where the outcome was unknown. I felt that I was faithfully doing what I heard God tell me to do when I didn't know what would happen, and it seemed to me that I was stepping out on faith instead of the solid ground of what was visible.

But when I look back on those times, it is clear that I was trusting in God to continue providing and caring for me. I was relying on God to do the same things that he has done my whole life. I am not saying that His response to my trust wasn't supernatural. I am saying that it was something amazing that He made a regular and normal occurrence in my life. It wasn't the same as me stepping out into open air, expecting the firm support of earth beneath me.

I think that is what stepping out in faith should feel like to me. I think of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah standing up to Nebuchadnezzar and facing what seemed like certain death in the fiery furnace. It wasn't like anything that they had ever faced or anything that they had ever seen God do for them. They didn't do it because they were certain that God would save them, they did it because they were going to obey God no matter what. I have heard it said that acting in faith is like stepping off of a diving board at an empty swimming pool, trusting God to fill it before you hit the bottom. There should be a sense of the unknown as you hang in the air, knowing that you stepped out in obedience regardless of the cost.

I don't honestly know if I have ever taken a step of faith like that. When I look back at the amazing things that God has done for me, I often feel like He blessed me despite my lack of faith. I want to have the kind of faith that allows me to be like those Jewish boys and stand firm in the face of certain death - to live out a testimony of faith in God even if I am not delivered from it. As the time draws short, it seems like more and more of a possibility that I will get the chance.