Bit-Sized Believers
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and
he delighteth in his way.” Psalm 37:23
Everywhere you turn,
marketing experts have resorted to appetizing ways to get you hooked on their
products. From Reese’s Pieces to Fig
Newtons and from Tiny Cokes to Little Chips, it’s a win/win to ultimately lead
you to a larger interest in their merchandise.
While Costco’s gigantic proportions might scare you away, you most
likely will take in something bite-sized.
God figured this out a long time ago.
He rarely reveals things to us in their full scope but rather a small
portion at time.
Take the most famous
followers of faith such Abraham (who didn’t know he’d be asked to “take out”
his own kid), Moses (who would have been overwhelmed by a vision of a Red Sea crossing), and even David (who stared up the
nostril of a smelly giant), all, like Hansel and Gretel, were led one
bread-crumb at a time. He never
gives us the full picture as He knows we might run in fearful flight. But through progressive revelation, we follow
Him one day a time and find ourselves becoming more like Him.
Max Anders, in his
book titled GOD gives one of the most powerful analogies of this
progression that I have ever read. He
says that in the 1940 version of "The Mark of Zorro", there is a
remarkable "chase" scene in which Zorro is fleeing in the dead of
night from a band of Spanish army officers. He is dressed in black, and his
horse, of course, is jet black. Racing at breakneck speed through woods, over
creeks, along narrow paths, Zorro is finally cornered on a bridge suspended
about twenty feet over a river. In one
of the most remarkable stunts Anders had ever seen in a movie, Zorro turns his
horse toward the railing on the bridge, which
is about four and a half feet high, and spurs him. The horse jumps over
the railing, into the river below, with the rider still on him. It swims
downstream in a hail of bullets from the bridge, and once again, Zorro makes a
cunning escape.
Max Anders questioned
how in the world did that stunt rider get that horse to jump over that railing
into the black abyss below? He says that is
one of the most unnatural things a horse would ever do. A horse would be almost
as likely to dance ballet or swim a back stroke as to jump into a black abyss.
He learned the answer from those who train horses. The secret is that the rider must never ask
the horse to do anything that hurts it. The rider first gets the horse to do
little stunts that seem dangerous, but the horse does not get hurt.
So
the trainer graduates to major stunts. After years or training, the horse
learns to trust the rider, because nothing traumatizing has ever happened to
him in the past. As a result, he will do almost anything the rider asks of him
in the future. Obviously, this rider had spent a lot of time working with that
horse, and a high degree of trust had developed. The horse never hesitated. Over the rail and into the river. Max Anders
says that if you know anything about horses, it will almost bring tears to your
eyes to imagine the amount of work and trust that had to have gone into such a
bold move.This is the story of our faith walk with Christ.
Essentially, our walk
with Christ is about following the little things with big hearts. Peter discovered this in Luke 5
in Peter's one and only catch of fish. Notice how Jesus then gives Peter a
couple of assignments. First of all, He says, “Put out a little
from shore.”You understand what I mean by simple. Jesus gives him something
little to do. It’s important to
see that these little things are foundational if the Lord is going to do
anything of substance in your life. God speaks to all of us about little areas
that seem so insignificant and yet they are important to them. But secondly, after the first assignment was
completed, Jesus turns to Peter and
says, “Put out into the deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” If we don’t do the little
things, then God can’t do the big things.
Max Lucado says that "Faith
is the grit in the soul that puts the dare into dreams." For Simon Peter, is was the “nevertheless,
if you say so, I will let down the nets." It’s the faith that allows us to
trust even when we don’t see, continue when we’re tired, or follow when the
world calls us another direction. David writes, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”
You never have to question whether the
path will lead. Though today leads you
over a rail and into a river, He’s never going to lead you astray.
Terry
Risser
Reflections:
1) When
have you felt God might have led you down a dangerous path but found He had
your best in mind?
2) What
areas is God calling you to be faithful which can be hard to trust?
Consider reading the Word today:
Copyright 2014- Terry Risser
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