Teaching Note 12

Faith Insight 12: Obedience Often Comes Before Understanding

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”— Proverbs 3:5 (ESV)

In our last Faith Insight, we considered an important truth:  Obedience is faith made visible.  But obedience becomes especially difficult when we cannot see what will happen after we obey. Israel faced such a moment at the Jordan River.

After years in the wilderness, God's people stood at the boundary of the land He had promised them.  But there was a problem.  The Jordan stood between them and where God was leading them.  God instructed the priests carrying the ark of the covenant to move toward the river.  Joshua told them:  “When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.”— Joshua 3:8 (ESV)

Think about the order.

1.   The priests were not standing on dry ground watching God stop the river and then deciding whether it was safe to proceed. 

2.   They had to step forward.

3.   Joshua records that when the priests carrying the ark dipped their feet into the water, the river was cut off upstream, and

4.   the people crossed on dry ground.

The step came __________ the opened way.  That pattern teaches us something important about faith. We naturally prefer understanding before obedience.  “Lord, show me exactly how this will work, and then I will do what You say.” But sometimes God gives enough light for __________ without giving enough information to satisfy all our questions.

This does not mean Christians should make reckless decisions and call them faith. Nor does it mean every strong __________ or personal __________ comes from God. Our __________rests upon what God has actually revealed, especially in Scripture. But when God's direction is clear, demanding __________ __________ can become another way of postponing obedience.

Proverbs tells us:  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

That does not tell us to stop __________. Scripture values wisdom. It tells us something more fundamental:  Our __________________ is not the ultimate object of our trust. God is.

There will be times when __________ seems __________.

Times when __________ seems __________.

Times when telling the __________ appears __________.

Times when __________ feels __________.

Times when __________ seems __________.

Times when God's way seems __________ than the __________.

At those moments, faith asks:  Do I trust God only when His way makes complete sense to me?  Or do I trust His character enough to obey what He has made clear?  The priests stepped into the Jordan.  Then the way opened.

Sometimes understanding comes after __________.  Sometimes it does not come for a very long time.  And sometimes we may never __________ completely in this life.

Living faith does not require complete __________.  It requires a __________ God.

A SIMPLE PRAYER

Father, give me wisdom to understand Your Word and humility to recognize the limits of my own understanding. When You have made Your will clear, keep uncertainty from becoming an excuse for delay. Teach me to trust Your character enough to take the next faithful step. In Jesus' name, amen.