BY FAITH!

 ‘African Impala’ photo by Birger Strahl on Unsplash.

The magnificent African Impala pictured above can leap over ten feet high and jump a distance greater than 30 feet.  Yet this animal can be kept in a zoo enclosure with only a 3-foot wall!  WHY?  Because they won’t jump if they can’t see where their feet will land. 

This instinctual behavior probably saves them from injury, but it also keeps them trapped in the zoo enclosure.  Can you see this perfect metaphor?  One author who calls himself ‘Shark Swimmer’, said we should always take a ‘leap of faith’.  He said, too many of us are afraid to take a risk.  He quoted Thomas J. Watson, the founder and first president of IBM who said: “Failure is a teacher – a harsh one, perhaps, but the best…That’s what I have to do when an idea backfires or a sales program fails. You’ve got to put failure to work for you…….you can be discouraged by failure, or you can learn from it.  So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can.  Because that’s where you will find success.  On the far side of failure.”
From an article authored by Shark Swimmer, The Exeter Daily, U.K…

Do we really have to take risks, or can we be assured that our decisions are based on faith and it is not blind?  If Jesus is your Lord, then the scripture is true for you, ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’  We are not alone!  He is with us and we are with Him.  He knows what He is doing.  He promised to ‘instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.  Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.’  Psalm 32:8-9.

When we have to make a decision, we can put our faith in Him and His promises and our faith will not be blind.  Read on!    

‘For we live by faith, not by sight.’  2 Corinthians 5:7.

‘For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.’  Romans 8:14.

‘Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!’  Psalm 143:10.

‘For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.’  
Philippians 2:13.

‘The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way.” Psalm 37:23.

‘In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’  
Proverbs 3:6.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12.

‘In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’  
Proverbs 3:6.

‘Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.’  Psalm 73:23-24.

‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’  Psalm 119:105.

‘The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.’  Proverbs 16:9.

‘And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.’  Isaiah 30:21.

‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’  
Proverbs 3:5-6.

It was a big deal making a decision to move my family from Seattle to Oklahoma for a teaching position at Oral Roberts University.  But God is faithful!  As you can see from His promises regarding guidance listed above.  I firmly believe that He will do whatever is necessary to ‘teach you and instruct you in the way you should go’ when you have an important decision to make.  After all, He even spoke through a donkey when necessary!  ‘Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”  Numbers 22:28.

I answered a tiny add for a teaching position at ORU.  According to the Chairman of the Art Department where I applied for the job, he knew immediately that ‘I was the one’ and he told me so.  Talk about pressure!  But God is faithful.  As I walked across campus and back to the hotel where I was staying, the Lord anointed me from my head to my toes.  (I felt the warmth of His presence.).  I stopped in my tracks and listened in my mind.  I heard Him say, “This is where I want you.  I will give you a new beginning.  I will bless you and bless people through you!”  

It gives me chills just thinking about His faithfulness!  I called my wife immediately and said, “We can be in Tulsa in God’s will or in Seattle out of it.”  After that it was an easy decision!!!  We knew that we belonged at O.R.U. and moved to Tulsa.  It wasn’t a ‘leap of faith’, He ‘established my steps’, He ‘made straight my path’.    

HE KEPT HIS WORD!  I have been incredibly blessed!