Don’t Be Afraid to Live by Faith in Christ  

Recently one of our young grandsons came over to our house to show us that he was learning to ride his bicycle without training wheels. Admittedly, he had made some progress toward achieving that goal. He demonstrated that he could ride along without any assistance – as long as he went in a straight line and didn’t go very far or very fast. He did need a little help to get started. He wouldn’t try to make any turns. And when he got ready to stop or felt like the bike was going to tilt over, instead of putting his leg down to catch himself, he virtually hopped off the bike so as to avoid taking a tumble. It was clear that while he might still require a few pointers about riding, more than anything else he needed to build up his confidence to overcome his fears of falling.

Similarly some of us could probably use more confidence when it comes to our journey in following Christ – not more confidence in ourselves or our abilities, but more confidence in Him. We often think of it more in terms of trust or faith. We may have begun a life of traveling along that pathway with Him as our Savior, but we still tend to be very tentative about pedaling down those roads in which He leads us. We often feel incapable of obeying God’s guidance when it comes to making any significant turns or changes from the direction we’re accustomed to going. We move along very slowly, even when the Lord is encouraging us to press ahead more urgently. We’re hindered from making more progress because of our fear of stumbling and falling.

The Bible tells us that our journey through life is one of faith. “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). We need to trust that the Lord will help us to navigate those twists and turns we encounter along the way – and we’ve been facing many of those over the past year. When the Lord urges us to move forward, we don’t have to hold back. We can trust that He will be with us as we shift our lives into a new gear. And all along the way we can have faith in the One whom the Bible says is able to keep us from falling (Jude 24). We can trust that when we have to thrust our leg out to steady ourselves that He will uphold us and keep our feet from slipping. However, even when we do take an occasional tumble, He’ll be there to pick us up and help us get back on the road again.  

When some people consider the idea of “living by faith”, they imagine a life filled with constantly taking high-risk leaps of faith. They see it as being like a spiritual Evel Knievel, the famous motorcycle daredevil. Granted, there may be times when the Lord will not only get us out of our comfort zones, but challenge us to do things that seem difficult, if not impossible. He may call us to jump over some Grand Canyon in our lives. However, most of the time living by faith will simply involve the low-risk pedaling along in our everyday lives as we trust the Lord to help us maneuver over the little bumps in the road, successfully make those turns in a different direction, and climb those challenging hills – to keep faithfully following Him through our course in life.

Let’s not be afraid to follow wherever the Lord is leading us. Let’s take off our training wheels and trust Him to help us go whichever direction and at whatever speed He desires. Let’s live by faith in Him.