The message delivered at Church tonight served as a much needed reminder for me. A reminder I should have been able to, and should have been, giving myself.

Back when I was leading a small group, there were a number of things that were constantly repeated. One of them was the idea of stepping out in faith. Kids in the group would say things like, “I just don’t feel like doing such and such” or maybe “I don’t feel passionate”, or “I’m having trouble stopping such and such sin”. My response was almost universally the same—What are you doing?

What I meant by that was, what are the actions being taken—in faith—to a cultivate a ground for God to bring change. Sometimes the action is as simple as developing a discipline to read first thing in the morning. Wake up every morning, whether your hungry, distracted or late, and in faith, make scripture the very first thing you do. Then, see what the Lord does with that faith, then take another step in faith. In my own life, and in the lives of many of the kids in the small group, I saw it work. Over and over.

Tonight’s message was preached from Hebrews 11. The author spends the entire chapter basically recounting all the great super-heroes of faith and how they all had to step out onto it.

I was pretty immediately taken back. You see, life has been less than steady these past few months. Uncertainty about church and relationships have set me in a kind of locked-down-bunker-spirituality. It seems that after spending several months in the bunker, I’ve forgotten that’s where I am.

When the preacher tonight brought up Hebrews 11, it hit me. What I preached to my own small group week in and week out, I’ve failed to do myself. Just sitting in the bunker waiting for something to happen, to change, or for some new motivation or perseverance to come about, isn’t getting anywhere. Not that God isn’t sovereign and couldn’t do those things if he chose to. But, for whatever reason, he isn’t choosing to and the correct course would be exercise faith and step out.

I’m reminded of a powerful verse in scripture that’s gone unquoted in my mind for some time. 2 Corinthians 12:9:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness…”

The bunker is safe, and in it I can feel strong. But, that is not where God wishes to display his power. So, steps in faith to exercise weakness are necessary. God’s grace is more than sufficient and in times like these, it shines brightly.