YOU DON’T NEED FAITH ON THE COUCH

Faith isn’t fearlessness.  You can be fearless, sitting on your couch watching TV.  You don’t need faith until you are attempting something that scares you. When you feel the fear and leap anyway, you grow your trust and lose your fear.

The child trusts her father when she jumps. Until then, it’s just talk.  But after she overcomes the butterflies in her stomach to take that first leap, the trust is reinforced and fear is converted to a rush of adrenaline. Joy is the endgame here, for both of them!

It’s the same with God. He loves when we abandon ourselves to trust him. He delights to catch us. When we take a leap of faith, he proves trustworthy. That builds our faith and deepens our intimacy with him. You don’t get that by sitting on the couch or just coming to church. You have to do something that scares you, where if he doesn’t catch you, you’re in trouble.

The Challenge

Sunday I challenged our church family to take a risk.  I asked each person to ask God what their contribution to our new home at the ranch could be.  Faith is needed when the amount is more than easy but less than impossible. There is an edge where the giving costs you and requires you to trust God to provide. Giving what is easy requires no faith and no partnership with God. You can do it yourself.  Making promises you can’t keep doesn’t help anybody.  But pledging (or giving) an amount that stretches your faith . . . that is where the action is!  You are taking a leap and trusting God to provide.

This is why we don’t need some billionaire to easily fund the building for us.  That would rob us of the joy, growth, trust and intimacy we get when we take a leap.  You don’t get any of that when you give what is easy.  You don’t get it when you don’t participate because it seems impossible. The magic happens when you give what scares you. You give an amount that gives you butterflies.  Trust God and jump!  Bring your pledge or gift on Easter Sunday or make it now at imagine.mvc.life