When we reach that crossroads in our lives where we have to make a choice between going the way of the world and following God’s direction, we need to realize that we are not pioneers in faith. There are many men of the Bible who showed us  “where faith has gone before“.

It’s not enough to just step out in faith and hope that we’re on the right track; we need to know that we are on the right track. And we get that reassurance by reading how some very influential men of the Bible stepped out in faith and reaped mighty victories. The Bible is God’s reference book for us to learn about others who took a stand in faith and reaped mighty rewards.

Moses stood out against everything he’d been taught and followed God’s instruction to lead His enslaved children out of Egypt. We all know the story of how Pharaoh’s daughter raised Moses after she found him as a baby in the river.  He became one of them and was a mature adult when he discovered that he was a Hebrew and not an Egyptian. He had a lot to gain if he stayed an Egyptian but he had a desire in his heart to be with his own people, and when Pharaoh learned the truth about Moses he disowned him.

Moses left the riches and prestige of Egypt behind him and wandered back to his own land where he learned about God and became His child, and that’s when God appeared before him as a burning bush. He told Moses to return to Egypt and set the Hebrews free, and this was a mighty challenge for Moses because he knew the power of Pharaoh and his hatred for God. But Moses had faith in God and chose to obey Him. The quest may have seemed awkward for Moses but he returned to his home, only this time as a representative of someone who Pharaoh hated rather than as Pharaoh’s son.

Moses had faith in God. He trusted him and he OBEYED HIM knowing full well that Pharaoh would kill him if he could. He likely went through mixed emotions at first because it was an emotional task to come against the pharaoh who Moses had only known and loved as his own father. Yet, he had faith in God and he obeyed Him because he believed that God would give him the strength and the wisdom to do the job set before him.

Moses’ love and reverence for God was greater than his fear of taking a stand against the world, and this is the driving force that every Christian needs when we step out in faith.  We need to know God, trust God and obey God.

Noah built an ark in a land that had endured years of drought and he was laughed at and scorned for what appeared to the world as a foolish antic. But Noah had faith in God and trusted Him when He said a flood was coming. He obeyed God and spent the next 120 years building the ark even though he and his family were the only ones who believed God. And as a result, he and his family were the only ones who survived the deluge that destroyed everyone else.

Abraham waited years for his first child, and finally when he bore Isaac in his old age he was ecstatic and he doted on him and praised God for him. And when God instructed Abraham to take his son and kill him, I’m sure that Abraham must have ached in his heart to have to hurt this precious child that he loved, but he didn’t hesitate to follow God’s instruction. He had faith in God and believed that God would raise him up again.

The faith that Noah, Abraham and Moses had in God has been the foundation of the faith movement for all Christians. They, too, were at a crossroads in their lives and they had to make a choice between serving the world and following God. They all chose to stand in faith and obey Him. And these men didn’t have the Holy Spirit inside them to guide them; they all moved in absolute faith and trust in God.

But we are blessed and we have the presence of the Holy Spirit in us to give us strength so that we can step out in faith. If the mighty men of the Bible could take such a diplomatic stand in faith and reap such dynamic victories, then think what we can do when we choose to have faith and trust God for the victories in our own lives.

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” …. Romans 8:31