Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval.” Today's episode talks about how God doesn't usually reveal His whole plan to us when He calls us to do something. He usually shines a light on the first step and then when we step out in faith into the unknown, He shines a light on our next step. He leads us one step at time. It also talks about His time and not our timing. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Be Bold & Step Forward in Faith ( Be Bold Series)
Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval.”
I have done the Bible in a Year podcast with Father Mike for two years. This year, he is doing the Catechism of the Catholic Church in a Year. The Catechism aims to summarize in book form the main beliefs of the Catholic Church. I have owned this book for several years now and yet have never read the whole thing. I did find some things highlighted today when looking through it, so I have looked through it, but never read through it all. I was excited about this new podcast Father Mike is doing because I think it is important to be able to understand your faith completely and also to be able to explain it to others when asked. People tend to have many questions as to why Catholics believe what they believe.
The other day, when I was listening, Father Mike touched on something that I thought was important to share with you because it is something that we have all run into many times in our lives. The Catechism talked about how God sometimes reveals things to people to invite them into His company. The adequate response to this invitation is faith. It goes on to say in paragraph 144 that Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of revelation, “the obedience to faith.” It says to obey in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment. Paragraph 145 says The Letter to the Hebrews, in its great eulogy of the faith of Israel’s ancestors lays special emphasis on Abraham’s faith; “By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where to go.” He lived as a stranger and pilgrim in the promised land by faith. By faith, Sarah was given to conceive the son of the promise. And by faith Abraham offered his only son in sacrifice.
Father Mike pointed out that all three people mentioned here, Abraham, Sarah, and Mary, acted in faith. This was not the part that surprised me as I have heard the story of Abraham and Sarah many times, and I know everyone knows that Mary acted in faith when she said yes to carrying the Son of God. What Father Mike said that makes sense when you think about it, but I guess I never really thought about it before, was that God didn’t give these three people all the information before they answered in faith. He didn’t lay out every step they were going to take. He didn’t tell them every bump in the road they would run into. He didn’t give them a five-year plan or a 10-year plan. He didn’t even give them a one-year plan. He gave them the initial invitation with very little detail. Abraham knew he couldn’t stay where he was and that God was inviting him to leave his homeland. He said yes without knowing where he was going and how all would turn out.
Sarah knew she would conceive a son but was not given any other information about when or how since she was advanced in age. Mary was invited to conceive the son of God, and she asked one clarifying question: How was that possible when she had not known man? She was told the Holy Spirit would overshadow her, and she would conceive the son of God. However, that was about all the information she got. She also was not told everything she would go through. She wasn’t told she would leave him in Jerusalem when he was 12, and she would be worried he was lost for 3 days. She wasn’t told about his suffering and crucifixion. She was told about just that first step.
This is the part that I think we can all relate to. God is calling us all to something, and He calls us to it without giving us all the details. He shines just enough light on our situation so we can see the next right step. This can be scary for us. We tend to want to know what is coming next. We want to make sure we will be safe and secure. But what if we knew everything we would go through and were scared we couldn’t do it? Everything we go through in life prepares us for the next thing we will go through. If you knew it all in advance, you might not say yes. It is believed that Mary was very young when she got married and had Jesus. Do you think a teenager could have said yes to having a child that was going to be tortured and killed? Would she have had that kind of strength as a teen? I think Mary was able to be with Christ through all that because of all the things that came before that. Everything we go through, good or bad, prepares us for the rest of our lives.
What about Abraham and Sarah? Do you think they would have been all excited about having a child if they knew they would have to offer him up in a sacrifice? Probably not, but God had been so faithful to His word that Abraham knew if God was asking him to do it, then He had a plan of how to make it right again. Has God been faithful in our lives? Can we look back and see where He has been with us the whole way? Can we look back and see how things that didn’t make sense at the time now make sense with the benefit of hindsight? Has God gotten you through some pretty tough spots? Do you have things that you have done and looking back you can honestly say you wouldn’t have done them if you had known all they would entail? God is so good. He knows human nature. He knows that we get scared easily. He knows we tend to choose the easy route and try to avoid pain and discomfort at all costs.
God’s ways are higher than ours, and His thoughts are higher than ours. He knows that if we knew the whole picture, we might not accept the call He is calling us to. Can we say yes in faith, like Abraham, Mary, and Sarah did? Can we say yes to whatever new thing God calls us into without knowing all the details? Can we trust that God has the details worked out and that if we are faithful and take the next step, he will shine a light forward to the next right step? I also feel prompted to mention that God’s timing is not ours. God told Abraham he would have a child, and then I believe they waited 25 years for that to happen. They did not wait perfectly; they tried to make it happen independently, but in the end, God was faithful. I guess I felt prompted to mention that because I know some of you are waiting for your answered prayers. I know some of you have been waiting for a long time. I want to encourage you and let you know you are in good company. Sometimes we can think God doesn’t like us as much if we keep waiting almost like God is taking care of those more important to Him before He gets to us. This is not the case. God promised Abraham everything, yet he also had to wait a long time.
Have faith to take the next step, even when you can’t see where it leads. Take that step even if you don’t know the final outcome or all the details. Move towards wherever God is calling you, knowing that if He called you there, He will shine a light on each step until you arrive. Referring back to the verse, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." St. Augustine said, "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” God rewards us when we step out in faith. Where can you trust God and step out in faith today?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you help us to know what you are calling us to. We ask that you help us to have the faith to step out in that call even though we don’t have all the details and don’t know what will come next or when it will come. Lord, give us the perseverance we need to wait for your call and to not try and manufacture it on our own. We love you, Lord. You are amazing. You know what is best for us, and we pray that we can listen to you and wait for your plan. We are so grateful that You have a plan for each of us and that You light our steps so we can follow Your plan. We are sorry for all the times we didn’t follow your plan; we are trying, Dad. We love you and ask all of this per your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “You must trust me fully. Let go of that humanness that keeps you away from me. Offer it to me. Nail it to the altar. The cross that I give you is not always the best. But I am bringing you to glory with your yes.”