obedience before the courage comes

I noticed it had been a while since I last wrote anything for here. There are times in life when the things God is teaching me are far from being able to be put into words. That's where I've been for the last while. I sat down a few times to try to write a post, but it just wasn't time to write what God was teaching me.

Last weekend I was at a conference called Breakforth. I was going for the concerts that were a part of it mainly, knowing that the rest of the sessions and workshops would be good too. The first session began pointing towards what would become a theme for me for the weekend - and a summation of much of what God had been saying to me for the last couple of months. It seemed like every speaker I heard had something to say in their message that related to one specific theme.

One of the speakers at one of the workshops I took summed it up in just a few words. I'll share them and then I'll explain them.

Jesus Christ is adequate. Get out there and do it.

The speaker for that session was talking about how sometimes we know what we're supposed to do, but it scares us, so we start praying for the courage to do it. We stop there and spend so much time praying for the courage to do it, that we don't ever actually do the thing we're supposed to do.

Sometimes we might just need to take the step of obedience and do what God is asking us to do, even though we're afraid. And it's after we take that step of obedience that we find ourselves with the courage to do what we're doing. But, if we had never taken that first step of obedience, we never would have received the courage to do what we were supposed to do.

I'll be honest, I would prefer if the courage came before I had to do anything. And I'm one of those people who is likely to get stuck praying for courage and miss what I'm supposed to do because I want the courage first. That just seems like the safer way to do things. But, maybe I miss things in life when I operate that way.

Lately, God has been challenging me in things and telling me to step out and trust Him. And really it all comes down to trust. Do I trust God enough to take the first step even though I'm scared about it? Do I trust God enough to ask Him for the courage to obey what He is telling me to do and then step out in obedience even before I feel the courage to do things?

What about you? In your life? Is there something God is telling you to do? But you're hesitant to obey because what He's asking you to do scares you? Have you prayed for courage? Are you stuck praying for courage? Now that you have prayed for the courage, is it time you took the step even though you don't feel like you have the courage to do it yet?