That First Step

If you’ve ever seen “Groundhog Day” you will likely remember this scene!  Disgustingly arrogant Bill Murray is walking down the street and as he steps off the sidewalk, he lands in a gigantic slushy puddle {that looks more like a gapping hole} while ‘Needle-nose -Ned’ snickers, “Watch that first step – it’s a doozie!‘   Dw and I have laughed many, many, many times recalling that line over the years.

Clearly, many times in our personal lives we agree – that first step – it’s a doozie!

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A couple of weeks ago the kids and I began a new Bible study together.  We had taken months to go verse by verse through the book of Acts and this time I decided we should study the book of Daniel.

I’ve read Daniel many times, but saw something that was so profound, I just had to share – knowing that many of you are wondering about taking that first step!

The book of Daniel is recorded in history and is powerful, pertinent and totally amazing!!

So the story goes like this:  King Nebuchadnezzar has a very troubling dream and wants to know what it means.  In fact King Nebuchadnezzar is so upset that he wants an accurate interpretation so he decides he’s not going to tell his “wise men” the dream.  Instead he’s just going to have the wise men tell him the dream he had and then tell him the interpretation too!

When the ‘wise men’ say that the King’s request is not even possible, he decides that he will have them all put to death.   (I guess no one tells the King ‘no’, right?)

Anyway, about this time, Daniel learns that he and his Jewish friends (who are considered ‘wise men’ in the king’s service) are going to die along with the rest of the wise men because no one can tell the king his dream, let alone the interpretation.

Now comes the crazy-amazing-that-first-step-is-a-doozie-good-part!

Listen to this from Daniel 2:16 – 18

And Daniel went in and requested the King appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.  Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of Heaven, concerning this mystery so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.  Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”

That little word “then” changes everything because it shows that Daniel didn’t have the dream nor the interpretation but Daniel went in to set up an appointment as an act of faith – believing that God would give him not only the dream, but the interpretation!  

That had to have been a doozie of a step of faith for Daniel!  Knowing he didn’t have the dream, so he obviously didn’t have the interpretation! 

That’s really, truly  faith!

The king had decided on putting them to death for not being able to do it….Daniel was putting it all out there, believing that God was going to come through!

Daniel’s first step??  A gigantic, enormous one!

BUT GOD.

Scripture tells us that without faith it’s impossible to please God.

Seriously!

Did you catch that – It says it’s impossible to please Him without faith!!

Frankly, I have heard many, many times people say they would _____________ if ______________.

Friends, it’s not about the “if”…it’s about that first step of faith!!   We don’t need “if” when we are walking in faith.

Scripture seems pretty clear that God was looking for Daniel to step out in faith so He could give him the dream and the interpretation!

When we began our journey to Vernon and eventually Pearl, we did not have one dime to start it with.  

Seriously.  Not even one dime.

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We live very, very, very frugally.  Every penny is accounted for daily.  There are no extra dimes.

Yet, we knew that Vernon was ours and it would be reasonable to ask, “How in the world will we do this financially?”  But that’s not part of faith.

Faith is taking the step.  Not knowing how God is going to do it.

So we wrote to our agency knowing we had not one dime to start.

And as the weeks rolled along and our agency said they would begin the process for us of trying to get Pre-Approval, we received a card in the mail.  Precious friends, Renee and Joel, had been praying one day and felt like they were supposed to send us a check.  In the enclosed note they explained that although they didn’t know what the check was for, they knew we had a need and they were supposed to send it.  It was a large amount!

When Dw saw that check he gasped and exclaimed, “It’s to begin the process of bringing home our son!”

Mind you, Renee and Joel had no idea.  We had not told anyone!

But we had already taken that first step with our agency!   That crazy first step – it was a doozie!

And God has been faithfully providing (through many of you) every step of the way!

We are close!  Sooooo close!

What is God calling you to do?  Take the first step….even when it’s a doozie…and trust Him.  He will take care of it all!

11 thoughts on “That First Step

  1. You’re getting close!! I would love to give you several art pieces to auction off. I’ve given several of my pieces for other adoption auctions and it has gone well!! If you would like to do that, I will send you photos of the art. I picture it as a mini art auction on your Facebook page. 🙂 I also have one Memorial Box for you to auction off. I sent a photo of that one a couple weeks ago. 🙂 If you are done with auctions, that’s fine too. Just an idea. 🙂

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