“When I have enough money, I’ll do it.”
“When the kids have grown up, I’ll make that trip.”
“When the economy sorts itself out…when the pain goes…when I’ve got it altogether, when I feel confident, when I no longer have anxiety…if, when, but, then…”
If we waited for the ideal conditions in life, no one would go anywhere, do anything, or see any progress.
This is the same with stepping out in God. Doubt, fear, suffering and negative thinking will always try and oppose our faith and stop us from doing anything that will advance His kingdom on earth.
Learning from the Greats
The great Generals of Faith did amazing things in God yet had to overcome great difficulty. We can learn a lot from their lives, how they faced hardship and suffering yet did not wait for the perfect conditions until they stepped out and pushed through.
John G. Lake was an amazing man of God, experiencing many signs and wonders including miracles, healings and demonic deliverance.*In 1915 he opened the Divine Healing Rooms in Spokane Washington and Spokanebecame the healthiest city in the USA according to United States statistics. Over 100,000 people were healed which caused a local hospital to shut down.
Yet in his lifetime John G. Lake suffered great loss including losing eight of his sixteen siblings to sickness.
His wife also passed away while they were missionaries in South Africa, leaving him with seven children to raise. Imagine if he let defeat and disappointment stop him from pursuing God. We would not have seen the legacy he has left.
Smith Wigglesworth is a well-known faith healer and raised over twenty people from the dead including his wife. He ministered around the world moving in healings, miracles, signs, and wonders and he is considered one of the greatest ‘Generals of the faith’ of all time.
However, Wigglesworth almost died of appendicitis, had painful kidney stones for six years and his daughter was deaf for her entire life.
These trials could have easily deterred him from pressing on in his faith journey.
In more recent years Heidi and Rolland Baker have experienced supernatural miracles including food multiplying, the blind seeing and outpourings of the Holy Spirit yet they have also faced trials and experienced great suffering.
These examples tell only a small part of their stories and of course there are other Generals of the faith we can learn from as well.
Greater works shall we do
Towards the end of Jesus’s life, he said,
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.”John chapter 14 verse 11
Sometimes it is hard to believe these words, especially if we have not yet seen or experienced the same works Jesus did.
However, reading the Bible and learning from the Generals of faith, I know Jesus’s words are as true today as they were when they were spoken over 2000 years ago.
What are we waiting for?
I wonder what it is we are waiting for to step out and fully realise Christ in us, the hope of glory? (Colossians chapter 1 verse 27)
Personally, for me, I get fired up and begin yet when setbacks, disappointments or discouragements come, I tend to let that fire dwindle down to sometimes the tiniest of flickers.
There can also be the illusion that we will one day “feel” ready, brave enough and full of faith. This day is not likely to ever arrive.
I highly doubt any of us will ever “feel” ready.
Instead, I pray we can learn to step out when God is asking us to, in whatever capacity this might look like, and do it one step at a time.
References:
*Johnson, B & Miskov, J, 2016, Defining Moments, Whitaker House.
Jo Fuller lives on the beautiful Sunshine Coast with her husband, son and daughter. Jo is a teacher with an education in journalism and early childhood who loves to spend time with her family and enjoys reading and writing whenever she can.
