The Precipice of Faith

The issue at hand has to do with the "step taken." Peter was in a boat in the Sea of Galilee in the wee hours of the night. Jesus bid him to come to Him--to step out on the rollicking waves of a stormy sea. It was not enough for Peter to sit in the boat thinking, "You know, I believe I could do it. I really believe God could make me able to do that." There was the "risk factor" that had to be taken. He had to step out of the boat and in so doing release all dependence on any form of human sufficiency. It was when he took that step that his faith was both actuated and consummated.

In the account of the ten lepers there were several basic components: the need, the healer, the plea for help, the word given, the action of faith, a the healing work, and the confirmation of it.

"And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, AS THEY WENT, they were cleansed" (Luke 17:14). One Biblical version translates it to "it was in the going that they were cleansed." They could have waited at the feet of Jesus all day and nothing would have happened. It was when they took the risk of going to the priests who had to verify their healing that the healing actually occurred.

There is always a risk involved when faith is involved. The risk inevitably has to do with whether one has received the word out of which faith is born. The risk factor lies in the possibility that one may have not actually heard from God, or that he didn't understand what he heard when he did hear. The risk is actually acting on what one believes to be the word of God, even when it appears impossible or that such a step would be hazardous.

There is always a reasonable alternative to faith. This alternative is for a person to abandon obedience and choose to help himself. There will always be a direction one can go or a step taken that removes the necessity of stepping off the precipice of human sufficiency out on to God's sufficiency. There is a certain amount of human security involved when one acts rationally or logically as opposed to acting obediently. The desire for that security will cause one to bypass many opportunities of faith that would have opened the door to the miraculous provisions, power and protection of God. It is for that reason that few rise above the mundane and scale the heights of divine accomplishment.

Over much of my ministry years, I have had to depend totally on God's provision in order to continue to serve and at the same time to take care of my obligations. It has never been easy. I struggle every time that I come to that point. Inevitably, there is a temptation that comes that would tempt me to circumvent any action of faith. In some ways it would be much easier to just walk the way of the world. Any thoughts along those lines soon pass because I know that just beyond the precipice that marks the end of all human dependency is the matchless and wonderful faithfulness of God.

Jeff