Why is stepping out in faith so hard sometimes? Even if you feel the nudging of Jesus, it’s just terrifying. If you are like me, stepping out in faith can be frightening. Whether stepping out in faith with your job or your new enterprise, it is hard, especially when you want to control every aspect of your life. I knew God was calling me to step out in faith to expand my small business and start selling at another store, but doing it was entirely different.
I STRUGGLED
I had a million ideas, questions, and concerns running through my head. Will I make my rent? Will people like my stuff and what happens if not a single one of my journals or stickers sells?
If I’m being 100 percent transparent, I struggled to see how everything would work with the new shop. I had faith, but the number of sales wasn’t that same at my other store.
STEPPING OUT WHEN IT IS TERRIFYING
One day, as I struggled to figure out how everything would work out, one of my stickers sold. It’s one of my favorites, and it’s perfect to share with you today. The sticker reads, “Kick butt and take names, Jesus’ way, of course”. Translation: defeat someone or something decisively, but only by the power of Jesus. Stepping out in faith requires relying on God and not ourselves. It requires us to step out even when it is terrifying and we can’t see the road ahead.
THE STORY OF RUTH
Someone who could not see the road ahead was freshly widowed Ruth in the Bible. She stepped out in faith, left the town she knew, and went to an unknown location. Ruth told her mother-in-law: “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” (Ruth 1:16)
Ruth decided she would follow God and travel to the unknown. The trip carried her to Bethlehem, her mother-in-law’s hometown. Ruth trusted, believing the Lord would provide, and He did. Because of her faithfulness, Ruth met her husband, Boaz. This remarkable man is noted in Jesus’s lineage.
RUTH’S DECISION
Sometimes, we don’t see in the beginning how our faithfulness will play out. Ruth didn’t either. She didn’t know how choosing to follow Jesus and leaving her town would end, but she did it anyway. Ruth followed my sticker, she “kicked butt and took names, Jesus’ way, of course”. You can step out in faith. It’s a choice.
For an inspiring testimony of active faith listen to an interview with Gracia Burnham