Falling in Faith
- The Narrow Path
- Oct 28, 2022
- 3 min read
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6, NIV).
Recently, I headed out for church wearing a new dress and my favorite wedge heels! Sadly, I’ve worn this particular pair of sandals so much that the soles are starting to completely fall apart. I’m feeling torn about parting with them, but I’m not sure how safe they are now.
A friend called me just before I arrived at church, and I shared my predicament with her. Everybody has a favorite pair of shoes, right? After expressing her understanding, she shared a story of an instance of wearing her favorite shoes that ultimately led to her downfall. Literally, she took a tumble while walking in them at Keeneland. Alcohol wasn’t involved, just a misstep that led to her landing flat on her face in front of friends.
Though we laughed together in the moment, I’m sure it wasn’t the most pleasant experience at the time. As I reflected on our conversation, I replayed the image of her taking the misstep and falling. While you might think the reflection was one of laughter, it was actually one of revelation.
How many times do we take a step forward in faith but find ourselves falling? I know I have plenty of times. When we choose to move forward in faith, there is always a risk that the step we take is the wrong one, and we land on our faces. Yet, there’s the hope behind the step that we will land on our feet in exactly the place the Lord is leading us toward.
Hebrews 11:6 says: “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” When I reflect upon this scripture as it relates to the story I’ve just shared, it is a reminder that we must be willing to fall in faith in order to please God. The most important part of the story is never where we land, but rather, do we have the courage to take the step at all.
The second half of this scripture is just as important because it tells us of God’s promise to reward those who seek him. We cannot stop seeking. We must choose to step forward in faith. Though I cannot promise where or how you’ll land when you do so, I can promise you that God cares more about our obedience than He does about anything else. We are called to be obedient and leave the rest up to Him.
If there’s something in your life that you have been feeling led to step into in faith, I want to encourage you today. Draw near to God. It is faith that pleases the Lord. Though we may fall in faith, our falling doesn’t indicate failure. It will require us to get up, dust ourselves off, and try again.
The next time we strap on our favorite pair of shoes, I pray we’ll all imagine ourselves moving forward in faith, not knowing where we’ll land, but leaning into the truth that even if we fall, we are always held by God.
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