OK, so, can you tell me the difference? When is it stepping out in faith and when is it stepping out in front of a bus? Can I even know before it happens or is that something that I learn right before the *SMACK* happens?
In all seriousness though, how can a person know when they are genuinely stepping out in faith and when they are just stepping out in front of a bus?
First, I'd say that you can't REALLY know because life just likes to throw buses at us some times. You know: perfectly planned activity and then *Boom*!!! You parents know what I'm talking about and plenty of you non-parents know about it too. In fact, having a new born in our house now, I am getting that picture even more. Ironically, I'm writing this after having no power from 7 - 9:30 tonight. That's literally when we are getting the kids ready for bed and in bed. That was NOT the plan for today. :o) (Side note: I also wasn't planning to play Trouble with my 7 year old or sit and talk to my wife for a while so, really, it was a great night!)
There are things, however, we can do to try to stay on the sidewalk and stay out of the street (where the buses are lurking).
Praying to God for wisdom: James 1 tells us that if we lack wisdom we should ask God, without doubting, and he will give it to us liberally. So, all the things I'm going to list next are all useless if we are running on our knowledge only. We start by asking God for wisdom and trust that he'll provide it as we need it.
Planning ahead: We have to think ahead, plan to the best of our ability, and trust God to do the rest. That's the faith part. However, even in faith, God gave us a brain and I assume he expects us to use it. So, we plan and do the best we can, but we don't try to take control of the situation out of God's hands.
Be flexible: Since we are asking for God's wisdom, that means that we know that God is smarter than we are. So, all the plans we are going to make, we are open to having God show us how dumb they are and that none (...or some....or all) of them are going to work and that we'll need to make changes as we go. We can't get crippled by "that was my plan so it HAS to be that way now." If we do that, we are no longer trusting God, but trusting our plan to work itself out.
Knowing the right questions to ask: This is rough. You can think you have all the answers that you need, but half of the time we aren't even asking the right questions to begin with. This is key and it will make or break some plans. Either way, one of the best ones is, "God, is this what you want for my family or is it just what I want?" That's a great question to ask that I, for one, often forget to ask.
Seeking advice from Godly men and women that we trust and who God has placed in our lives: God didn't put us on Earth in an isolated bubble and expect us to re-create everything we need. If we did, I wouldn't have electricity (More than just 2.5 hours tonight), running water, a car, my Bible, etc. All of those things , someone else put it all together for me and I'm just taking advantage of their work. So, the same goes for stepping out in faith. We know people who have stepped out in faith and we know people who have done the very things we are stepping out in faith to do. So, by God's grace, we go to them and ask for their thoughts, advice, and counsel. Now, they aren't smarter than God so we don't assume they know everything. We can, however, recognize that God put them in our lives for a reason and this moment may be one of those reasons. There is a good chance they've got something to tell us that God wants us to hear.
Bus or faith. Well, sometimes walking out in faith still gets you hit by a bus. however, if you have done everything you can to make sure this is truly a step of faith and you are relying on God, then that means that when the the winds have blown and the rains have fallen (and the bus has hit you) your house will still be standing on the solid rock who is Jesus Christ.
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