Uncertainty -- Increasing Expectations

As we have discovered all week, this relationship between faith and uncertainty is inescapable. What required faith for us yesterday may become commonplace for us tomorrow. Although they may still be expressions of our faith, they are no longer the challenges that launch us to a new-faith experience. While at first simply trusting God to take us outside our experience is a huge leap of faith, eventually God will expect more of us. Remember, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Once something is a certainty, it no longer requires faith. Do not be surprised that what God asked of us yesterday is insufficient for our journey of faith today.

Moses had just led Israel out of captivity in Egypt after ten plagues had finally convinced Pharaoh to let God's people go. But now Moses stood facing the massive Red Sea in front of him with Pharaoh's army in hot pursuit closing in behind him. As Moses waited at the banks of the waters, God instructed him to "raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through on dry ground" [Ex. 14:16]. In this instance, God allowed Moses to stand on the shore and create the path of deliverance for His people. Yet his apprentice, Joshua, was not afforded that luxury. Moses was now dead and gone, and Joshua, who had stood at Moses' side, was now the leader of Israel. He stood on the banks of the Jordan River between God's people and the promised land. While Moses was allowed to stand on the shore and watch the waters open, Joshua was given a different set of instructions. This time God commanded him, "Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord -- the Lord of all the earth -- set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap" [Josh. 3:12-13].

With Moses God parted the waters, and then the people crossed over. With Joshua, the leaders were required to begin crossing first, and then the waters parted. As we live our faith journeys, we will find time and time again that God changes the parameters of our faith. He progressively increases His expectations of us. What it means to live on the edge as our faith first begins to develop is not the same measure of faith required when we walk in spiritual maturity. We should expect and desire that God will move from parting the waters before us while we stand on the shore to calling us to step into the waters and experience the miracle happening around us. In the first, we watch the miracle. But in the second, we become a part of it. Both experiences are expressions of a journey of faith. Both have amazing similarities, but what God required in the second exceeded what He required in the first. My experience is that as we walk with God, He expands our faith capacity. Is it possible that we can walk with God in such a way that all of life is a second-dimension faith experience? Who knows for sure? But I know that I would like to find out.

Erwin McManus describes the imagery that God uses to incite our hunger to live life in a different dimension. There is something profound about the relationship between the waters dividing only when the soles of their feet touch the surface. We see the same relationship in Romans 16:20 where Paul tells us that "the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." We likely have no problem believing that God will crush Satan. What is mind-blowing is that He chooses to crush Satan under our feet and not under His. Remember that heaven is God's throne and the earth is His footstool. So yes, His are very big feet. Yet He says it will be our feet that crushes the enemy. So, if the soles of our feet have this kind of cosmic power, what untapped potential has God placed in the rest of us?

A power that comes from God is known only when we walk. Jesus began His public ministry by inviting us to follow Him. There is great comfort in such an intimate invitation, yet we must not forget that God is on a journey that none of us can take without Him. King David expressed it like this: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me" [Ps. 23:4]. The God of light insists on traveling into dark places; the God of peace continuously involves Himself in the wars of men; the God who is good engages the depths of human evil. The only God, who can deliver and save at the cost of His own life, journeys into the dungeon of human lostness to set free those who would relinquish their chains for life in Him! To follow Jesus is to enter the unknown, to relinquish security, and to exchange certainty for confidence in Him.

...To be continued...