Taking Small Steps And Giant Leaps Of Faith: How God Orders Our Steps Series

After World War II the United States Army left five army dumps in France full of machinery. It was destined to sit and rust, that is, until the Quakers stepped in.

They offered the United States 200,000 franc for the machinery; which made the US very happy. In turn, they salvaged everything in the dumps. Everything from shovels, saws, axes, trucks, and motorcycles creating army salvage stores all over the country; they made a fortune.

Furthermore, because they sold the equipment to the French people, the French government provided free transportation of the equipment on the French railroads and gave them 200 German prisoners to help with the packing, loading, and transporting the equipment throughout the French countryside,

In turn, the Quakers used the money they made to build a hospital in France that was deeply needed that still is in operation today.

When asked why they took on the project their answer was simple: “We did what God did, we just put things into the right order.”

Transition:

God is a God of order. The whole universe operates in precision order. In the earliest pages Genesis we read: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.”

Do you get the picture? The earth was void, dark, void, and useless; then suddenly, the Spirit of God started moving....

When God starts moving, things start stirring. Life starts emerging. Things fall into place. God gets things into order.

I don’t know about you, but when things are out of order; it impacts our lives. Have any of you ever been in the middle of a long trip, pulled into a gas station, ran to the restroom and saw a sign like this? (Our of Order) Or needed some quick cash and stopped by the bank late and night and see something like this? (Out of Order) Or you are starving and run to the vending machine to discover this? (This machine is not distributing food but will gladly be receiving cash donations)

I think we have all made a cash donation to a vending machine once or twice in life haven’t we?

Yet, the worst thing to be out of order is a life.

At the end of David’s life he wrote these words: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delights in his way.” Psalm 37:23

Do you know what God is saying here? He is saying, I want to put your life in order and keep it there.

This morning as we read about Jacob, we find God ordering his steps. He is sensitive to God’s order and has learned how God orders our steps. Let’s see what Jacob learned about God’s orders our steps.

Transitional Sentence: God orders our steps through:

I. Inspecting Our Steps

vs. 1-“So Israel set out with all he had, and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.”

Explanation:

Jacob had been through a lot in life. When we meet him in Genesis 46 Jacob is 130 years old because in the next chapter, Jacob will tell Pharaoh: “The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty, few and unpleasant have been the years of my life...”Genesis 47:9

Wow Jacob! Talking about a Debbie downer. Really? Few and unpleasant? That’s the commentary on your life?

Yet, many years had been hard. Jacob made a lot of steps on his own and God was constantly seeking to inspect and correct his steps.

As a matter of fact, remember Jacob wrestled with God a lot. He was nearly 100 years old (97 years old) when God physically had a wrestling match with Jacob. In Genesis 32 we discover that following that event, Jacob limped. His walk was changed physically and spiritually.

This is obvious in verse 1 of chapter 47 because of how Jacob responds to the invitation to move to Egypt. Notice he has two responses:

a) He accepts the invitation- Verse 1- He set with all he had- He was all in. He didn’t leave

anything behind. There was no reserve. No looking back. Nothing would be left behind. He

was headed to Goshen which meant: “to draw near.” God was moving and he sensed it, felt it,

and saw it with the arrival of the wagons Joseph sent to move him to Goshen. (Ch. 45:27)

Listen: God is active and moving in our lives and we should take notice. We should look for Him and learn to recognize, sense, and respond to His will and ways. Just like people walking; He is directing steps every day. Be all in. He’s active, you should be too.