On Faith and Presumption If faced with with the edge of a cliff - TopicsExpress

On Faith and Presumption If faced with with the edge of a cliff and having to go down, I imagine my parents will handle it in these two ways: My father, bold and fiery, will come to the edge and say, Father, I havent figured everything out but I trust you., then will jump. My mother, analytical and meticulous, will peer over the edge, do the necessary computations, say the same prayer, then will climb down slowly. I on the other hand, having inherited a dangerous combination of both, will peer over the edge to do the computations, say, I got this., then jump. This, I believe, is the difference between faith and presumption. When we move forward even with fear and uncertainty but with Gods approval, that is faith. But when we move forward without His approval, regardless of how we do it, we are just being presumptuous. And I can tell you with experience that it can be very costly. Ive jumped over cliffs and smashed myself on the rocks many times. Here are some things Ive learned from them: 1. By the grace of God, the rocks Ive smashed on are on His hand. Rock bottom is actually God catching you. This is something youll be grateful for someday. 2. When youre impatient and rearing to go like a stallion frothing at the mouth, the best thing to do is check yourself and pray that He holds you back. This brings me to a couple of points for real life situations. 3. If Im unsure of moving forward and Im contemplating about it (thankfully now I actually contemplate), and I realize that the intentions are purely on a self serving standpoint then its probably not a good idea to go forward. Like if Im thinking of asking a lady out but its purely because Im physically attracted and I think Im getting old? Yeah, thats most likely a no. Or what if Im considering a career move purely on a monetary standpoint? That could be a bad idea also. There is a great danger of presumptuous moves on both. 4. If Im unsure of moving forward because I feel insufficient, Ive never done it before, and I think Ill fall flat on my face, but I realize it might be for the better of others then God might be prodding me to make a leap of faith. I see the same things happen over and over in the Bible. There are people like Saul who presumptuously act for themselves and they get humbled. Then there are people like Moses who are hesitant but faithfully act for others and they are blessed. Key takeaways: When God says, Stop: stop being stubborn and STOP. When God says, Go: be bold and GO. When you have absolutely no idea what youre supposed to be doing: DONT DO ANYTHING, PRAY, and WAIT.