I was eleven years old when my younger sister was born. She came along a little later in life for mom and dad. With two older siblings, and experienced parents, she was destined for an extraordinary childhood. She was a toy for my brother and myself. If a baby could remember events from infancy, she could tell you of the time she was laying in my lap, and somehow slipped off onto the floor and bumped her head. Luckily it wasn’t far to the floor. There was no lasting damage, other than the ability later in life to attend college for her doctorate. I’d like to take all the credit for the effect it had on her IQ, but our mother might disagree. Other than the one tumble, my brother and I generally tried to take good care of her.
It was a family affair making sure she reached her childhood milestones triumphantly. We all took turns at teaching her the necessary skills to become an independent person. One skill encouraged by all members of the family was walking. I remember propping my sister up in front of our refrigerator. Backing a few feet away from her, and holding out my hands, I would try to coax her to step toward me. Her faith in me caused her to give it a try. First one step, and then two, would bring a loud applause and a jubilant celebration. You would’ve thought she had won an olympic medal.
Days passed by and she became more and more confident. She began taking more and more steps. In no time at all she was toddling all around the house. The hesitancy of a step taken in front of the refrigerator was quickly replaced by confident running feet all over the house. What started as first one step, and then two, became a constant confident walking child.
Her childhood days have long passed. She now has a three year old of her own. When he was younger she had the joy of propping him up, backing a few feet away, holding out her hands, and coaxing him to step toward her. First one step, and then two, would bring a loud applause and a jubilant celebration. Again, we have an olympic medalist!
The task of learning to walk is probably done a little different in each family. Some reason the refrigerator worked great for my sister, as well as my children. There never was clutter in front of it, because we were always having to open the door to get stuff out. It seemed to always be a great unoccupied flat surface, from which a child could easily be propped. Those days are long gone, but the memories are forever etched in my heart.
Trusting family, and friends to take care of them, a child seems to abandon fear as they try a new task and skills. Stepping into the unknown can rattle the best of us, but watching the faith of a child makes me wish I could have such abandonment toward God.
A friend of mine told me this acronym for ‘faith’.
Forsaking
All
I
Take
Him
I’d heard an acronym similar to this most of my life, except the word ‘Trust’ was used instead of ‘Take’. Personally, I’ve come to prefer using the word ‘Take’. A child steps out in faith to the one holding their arms out to catch them. They totally trust the one encouraging them, and they choose to ‘take’ the first step, and then two. It’s the action of ‘taking’ that shows faith.
In the acronym, the word ‘Him’ represents God. There was a struggle within myself for a couple weeks on this blog. I knew in my head the direction I wanted the blog to go, but in my heart this is a heavy battle within myself. Taking that first step in obedience can make your feet feel like they are in cement. Our hesitancy to step out in faith can be reasons of fear, selfishness, denial, lack of self worth, unworthiness, uncertainty, and others. The very first step in ‘Taking Him’ is salvation (Romans 10:9 NIV, If you declare with you mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.) After that, each step ‘Taking Him’ builds upon the first.
Each step chosen to ‘Take Him’ is not necessarily easier than the previous ones. It’s usually fear that hinders me from taking the first step when He calls me to do something. It takes pushing my fear aside, and responding. To ‘Take Him’ can include spending time on our knees, checking on someone who’s sick, surrendering to the ministry, starting a new ministry, attending church, going on a mission trip, studying God’s word, or whatever the Lord calls us to do. It’s a continual choosing to ‘Take Him’.
