Fear To Faith Part 1 Series

Nehemiah took a small step of faith and after praying to God he took a giant step of faith and asked the king himself to supply all the materials to accomplish the task. You might say in this brief period of time Nehemiah’s faith grew dramatically and he sprouted wings of faith that carried him on.

I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests. So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

Nehemiah literally asked the maximum from the man who held his life in his hands. He pushed Artexerxes to the limits of cooperation. Think about it, he asked the nation who destroyed the wall to rebuild it, gates and all. Ramona C. Carroll said, "Faith is putting all your eggs in God’s basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch."

How many of us will take small steps of faith this year? Will we be like Nehemiah and push the limits or simply fade into the background one more year and simply ask God to get us through? Jesus calls us to "life abundantly not life redundantly." We need to get out of the boat and begin to accomplish God’s purpose in our lives.

Old silent movies often included a scene where the villain tied a beautiful heroine to the train tracks. In great fear, she kicks and screams as the chugging locomotive heads straight toward her sweet little body. But we know she won’t die there. Just in the nick of time, the hero will emerge from the forest and cut the ropes delivering her to safety as he carries her away into the sunset. You can count on it: God will be there for you, even if it’s just in the nick of time! (Joe Stowell)

How about you, are you ready to begin a year of faith and success? Take that first step of faith today by putting your life in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Joe Stowell says, "In the midst of the changing circumstances of life, we have a choice. We can live in fear of all the uncertainties, or we can cling to the reality of God’s sustaining and intervening presence in our lives."