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G0! Walk by Faith · Fostering Faith

• 0:00
  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. Hi, my name
• 0:02
  is Tracie and I am going to be your host for Fostering
• 0:05
  Faith today. And so if you are new to this channel,
• 0:08
  if you're new to Fostering Faith, we welcome
• 0:10
  you. And so in Fostering Faith, we walk through
• 0:13
  things before we talk about things. And so this
• 0:15
  episode is about faith doesn't wait, obedience
• 0:19
  in the unknown. And so walking with God when
• 0:22
  you don't know what you're doing. And so welcome
• 0:25
  back to another episode of Fostering Faith where
• 0:27
  we talk real faith. real life, and real Jesus.
• 0:30
  I'm your host, Tracie Foster, and today we are
• 0:32
  going to be diving into the deep end. We're going
• 0:36
  to be talking about what it looks like to walk
• 0:37
  by faith when you don't know what you're doing,
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  doing it scared, doing it unsure, doing it anyway,
• 0:44
  because God said go. And so let me go ahead and
• 0:47
  say this. In this episode, it's going to be for
• 0:50
  the one who's sitting in the middle of the chaos,
• 0:52
  in the middle of the fear, in the middle of the
• 0:55
  decision. And all you have is God's voice and
• 0:59
  a racing heart. If that's you, buckle up. Because
• 1:03
  today we're going to go into the word. We're
• 1:05
  going to go into some theology, some truth, and
• 1:08
  a bunch of biblical receipts that prove you don't
• 1:12
  have to have it all figured out to be faithful.
• 1:15
  You just have to go when God says go. And so
• 1:20
  today we're going to be in 2 Corinthians 5, 7.
• 1:23
  And it says, for we walk by faith. not by sight.
• 1:27
  This isn't a coffee mug verse. This is theological
• 1:31
  in motion. Paul is explaining that as believers,
• 1:36
  our movement is motivated not by what we can
• 1:40
  see, but who we trust. And let's be clear, biblical
• 1:44
  faith isn't blind. It's not reckless. It's anchored
• 1:48
  in the character of God. He is trustworthy. He
• 1:52
  is a provider. He is a way maker. So whenever
• 1:54
  he says move, we don't need a spreadsheet. We
• 1:59
  need sneakers. And so as we are walking through
• 2:02
  this in our own life here on Fostering Faith,
• 2:05
  and so I will tell you that I have been out of
• 2:09
  school for 15 years, and I kind of got a wrestling
• 2:13
  about it probably last year. And I looked into
• 2:17
  so many different areas of where I need to go.
• 2:21
  I looked into an MBA. I looked into functional
• 2:23
  medicine. I went into like different programs
• 2:26
  and I really just didn't feel settled, but I
• 2:29
  felt like I was supposed to go back. And so I,
• 2:33
  really the only thing that I want to study is
• 2:39
  scripture. And I was just like, that makes no
• 2:42
  sense. And so I looked into going back into college.
• 2:47
  And so I looked up some classes and I looked
• 2:49
  up and I started taking some online classes just
• 2:52
  for free here and there. And I just really love
• 2:54
  studying scripture. I love structure. I liked
• 2:58
  school whenever I've done it. I mean, cause I
• 3:01
  have several degrees. But in that same instance,
• 3:05
  like I was just like, Oh, what do I, what am
• 3:07
  I doing? Like, why do I need another degree?
• 3:09
  Like, so I, signed up. I applied for seminary
• 3:14
  and, um, I was accepted last week into Dallas
• 3:22
  seminary. Um, so I'm going back to school. I
• 3:25
  have no idea what God is doing with this. Um,
• 3:30
  but then I also felt a tug, uh, that I've, you
• 3:33
  know, had on my heart. I'm praying for this podcast.
• 3:35
  I'm praying for it to grow. I'm praying for,
• 3:38
  you know, for it just to reach the people that
• 3:40
  it needs to, to, for people to listen to it.
• 3:43
  I mean, I, I don't know what I'm doing with this
• 3:45
  podcast, uh, and that we're going to be real
• 3:47
  honest. And if you've been walking with us, the
• 3:49
  whole reason why this is up and going is because
• 3:51
  whenever Gia came back, uh, from a, uh, church
• 3:55
  group, uh, she was like, Hey, I want to be a
• 3:57
  kingdom builder. I want to do a podcast. And
• 4:00
  I said, no, we have no idea what we're doing.
• 4:03
  And I was in the middle of a provider meeting
• 4:05
  and all of a sudden the name fostering faith
• 4:07
  came to my heart. And I was like, man, that's
• 4:09
  a good name. And so I walked into her bedroom.
• 4:12
  I said, let's do it. I said, let's do it scared.
• 4:13
  If you feel like this is what we're supposed
• 4:16
  to be doing, let's do it. And so we've have muddled
• 4:19
  our way through all the things. And are we reaching
• 4:22
  millions of people? No, we're not. Do I have
• 4:25
  any idea of what I'm doing as far as advertising
• 4:28
  or doing growing platforms and like doing all
• 4:32
  things? No, I have a full -time job and I love
• 4:35
  talking about Jesus. And so. as great ideas come
• 4:39
  and, you know, God knows that I will do anything
• 4:42
  for my daughter. She knows, he knows that I would
• 4:44
  do and go anything to get her excited about the
• 4:47
  word. And so whenever she was on fire for it,
• 4:49
  uh, yeah, absolutely. Let's do it. And then as
• 4:52
  teenagers happen, you know, kind of sparks fizzled
• 4:55
  out and life happens and sports and homework.
• 4:58
  you know, all these things are out there. And
• 5:01
  so, but I just feel like I'm supposed to just
• 5:03
  continue to do it. And so we opened up and I
• 5:08
  applied for an LLC for Fostering Faith Media.
• 5:11
  And so we are now owners of Fostering Faith Media.
• 5:15
  What we're going to do with it, I don't know,
• 5:17
  but we're walking blind by faith, knowing that
• 5:20
  God is in the center of our house, our... podcast
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  and in this business. And so I don't know what
• 5:28
  he has prepared for us, but we're going back
• 5:31
  to school. We're going to own a business and
• 5:33
  we are putting him at the center of it. And so
• 5:35
  we're just going to watch him unfold and know
• 5:38
  that I have to fully depend on him to get any
• 5:41
  of this done, to put more things on an already
• 5:44
  full plate. kind of crazy and it doesn't make
• 5:48
  sense, but it doesn't have to make sense whenever
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  it's God. And so we just know and trust that
• 5:54
  if we let him lead us, we take him by the hand
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  and say, you lead, take me with you. You know,
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  it's going to turn out for good. And if we grow
• 6:06
  and mature and, you know, all these things with
• 6:09
  him, we can't fail. And so even if we make There's
• 6:13
  no difference in our lives, you know, as long
• 6:16
  as we've trusted in God and we know and we're
• 6:19
  walking whenever we feel like he says go, we
• 6:22
  go. It doesn't have to make sense. I know one
• 6:24
  year back, you know, probably two or three years
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  ago, I had the word thrive on my heart and it
• 6:33
  made no sense. Like I was like, what? And I felt
• 6:37
  like the impression of you need to go. speak
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  at Thrive. And I was like, oh my gosh, do I get
• 6:43
  to like create a conference? Do I do this? Do
• 6:47
  I do this? And I just, and I really never felt
• 6:49
  settled. And so I literally had to look it up.
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  And, um, there was a Thrive conference, uh, in
• 6:56
  California, mind you. And it was, um, thrown
• 7:02
  on by a church that's out there and it was Bay.
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  church, I think. And so like, it was going to
• 7:12
  be me flying by myself. It was going to be me
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  running a car. It was going to be me going out
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  there by myself. And so I've never done anything
• 7:19
  like that in my life. I've never flown anywhere
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  by myself. I've never rented a car by myself
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  or never rented a car basically. And, um, so
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  I literally took a step of faith, got the plane
• 7:32
  tickets, got the hotel, got all the things. And
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  it was just me and Jesus. for I think four days
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  and it was in California by Sacramento and I
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  was going there and like so whenever you're meeting
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  people and you're doing things everybody's like
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  oh where are you from and I'm like Illinois and
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  they're like wait what you came from Illinois
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  to this conference because they were talking
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  about like they were from like little towns like
• 8:05
  here and there and just like you know, just like
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  30 minutes away, an hour away or whatever. And
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  they're like, you flew to California for this
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  conference. And I was like, I really felt like
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  I was supposed to come. And I said, I felt like
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  God had said, go speak at Thrive Conference.
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  And so I came and just shared my story. And the
• 8:24
  more people that I talked to, it was just like.
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  I think that message was for me. I cannot believe
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  that you flew half across the United States because
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  you felt like God told you to come. And I was
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  able to get out of my comfort zone. I had never
• 8:44
  ate by myself. I've never ate in a restaurant
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  by myself. I've never been by myself with Jesus.
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  And it was so amazing because I stayed on the
• 8:54
  same time schedule as here where we live now.
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  So they are two hours difference. And so my daughter
• 9:00
  wanted me to go to bed with her, get her up with
• 9:02
  her. So I had to do phone calls with her. And
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  I was up at two o 'clock because I get up at
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  four o 'clock here. So I was up at two o 'clock
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  California time. And so I got to spend that time
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  with Jesus. And, uh, that was, that was kind
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  of like in the, in the middle, in the beginning
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  of my, of my faith. And, you know, I don't know
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  if you've ever been in that position where you
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  just, um, you're wanting to surrender your life
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  and you're, you're wanting to be down on your
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  knees and just, and just. go into prayer and
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  you just feel silly. You feel like you're like,
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  Oh my gosh, this is so stupid. Like, I don't
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  want to be on my knees. Like you don't, I can
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  pray in a chair. I can pray in bed. And I mean,
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  I'm in my own home, you know, here and it's just
• 9:41
  me and Derek and Gia. And like, there's no one
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  here to judge me. No one cares what I'm doing.
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  And I could not, I wasn't, I didn't get on my
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  knees. And so it wasn't until that moment that
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  I was in that hotel room. by myself, just me
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  and God, I got on my knees the first time and
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  just cried and cried and cried. And he taught
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  me so much in that four days of how to just get
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  out of my comfort zone and talk to people. And
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  they had like food trucks there. And so one day
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  I got some chicken wings and I went back in and
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  like, you know, all the tables are full. Um,
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  and there was this one lady that was sitting
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  at a table and it was, she was sitting by herself
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  and I walked up to her. I've never done this.
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  I mean, I could have cut, maybe puked a little
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  bit, um, because I was so scared. I was like,
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  can I sit here? And she said, and she looked
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  at me and she was on her phone and she had her
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  food and she looked at me and she said, yes,
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  sit down. And she said, my friends are literally
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  in the car. They just texted me and said, we
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  feel like we're supposed to sit in this car.
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  Someone's going to come sit by you. Shut your
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  face, shut your face. And so I sat down, we begin
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  to talk and I just start, and she starts telling
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  me her story about all these things that's happened
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  in her life. And I just start speaking into her
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  life. And she literally gets out her notebook,
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  starts writing down what she has, like what I'm
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  telling her. She's like, oh my gosh, I have never
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  heard anything like this. Where, you know, I've
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  never been talked to like this. I mean, I've
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  never, I've never, you know, like all these things.
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  And I'm like, how would you? I'm like, I'm from
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  Southern Illinois. Like I just, you know, like
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  I, maybe God sent me to talk to you. I have no
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  idea. And just talked to so many people and it
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  was able to encourage them to step out in their
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  faith because they were scared because they heard
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  the word go and they didn't go because it did
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  not make sense. And I just got people just kind
• 11:56
  of poured into me too. And they seen how on fire
• 11:58
  and how kind of bold I was being, but yet I was
• 12:00
  so scared and so nervous to go. And they were
• 12:05
  just like, you are a war horse for Christ. You
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  are like. people were just speaking kind of the
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  same thing over me and over me. And I really
• 12:15
  felt like I was supposed to talk to the guy that
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  did the Thrive Conference. And I kind of just
• 12:22
  prayed about it. I'm like, let me meet him. Let
• 12:24
  me meet him. Let me meet him. And I just wanted
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  to thank him for... putting on this Thrive Conference,
• 12:29
  allowing me to see it, to be able to follow what
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  I felt like God was telling me to go. And we
• 12:35
  were getting in the middle of a breakout session
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  and I was, I had been praying that I meet this
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  guy. And I mean, like Christine Kane was there,
• 12:44
  you know, Greg Rochelle was there. I mean, I
• 12:46
  really could not, and he was on like screen,
• 12:48
  but Christine Kane was there. And I just could
• 12:51
  not believe I was sitting in California. In the
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  midst of all these great speakers and leaders
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  and just being able to just learn from them and
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  glean from what they were saying, I would never
• 13:05
  in a million years pictured me flying by myself.
• 13:09
  And I mean, it may be so simple to you guys,
• 13:11
  but I mean, it was a big deal for me. And I was
• 13:16
  able to, I was walking down the hallway and the...
• 13:20
  This, the, the guy that hosted the conference
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  literally was walking down the hallway and I
• 13:26
  chickened out and the Holy spirit just wrecked
• 13:29
  me. He was like, are you kidding me? Like I,
• 13:31
  you literally prayed for this. I just gave it
• 13:33
  to you and you're not going to go up to him.
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  So I immediately turned around and I went up
• 13:37
  to him and I was just like, Hey, I just want
• 13:39
  to thank you for so much for throwing on this
• 13:40
  conference. I need you to listen to this. And
• 13:43
  he listened to it. He was just like, this is
• 13:46
  amazing. We took a selfie and it was just like,
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  I did it. I came to the Thrive Conference. I
• 13:54
  poured my heart out to these people. I hopefully
• 13:57
  encouraged somebody. This is the story. And so
• 14:00
  I had no idea what God did with those words,
• 14:04
  with those people, but I was obedient. I did
• 14:07
  what I was supposed to do. I went and it was
• 14:09
  just like, send me. I am yours. I will go wherever
• 14:12
  you want me to go. Whenever we are doing things
• 14:17
  and we're doing them blind, we just, we just
• 14:19
  go. And I mean, let's talk about Abraham. We
• 14:22
  have Genesis 12 and go into the land and I will
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  show you. That's it. There was no instruction.
• 14:29
  There was no address. There was no GPS pin. No,
• 14:33
  literally just go. And Abraham, he goes. And
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  you have Hebrew 11, eight that says by faith,
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  Abraham obeyed whenever he was called to go to
• 14:44
  the place. where he received as an inheritance.
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  And he went out not knowing where he was going,
• 14:50
  not knowing where he was going. Listen, sometimes
• 14:55
  God calls you into a job, into ministry, a relationship,
• 15:00
  a calling. You don't even know what you're doing,
• 15:04
  but he does. Faith is saying yes, not because
• 15:09
  you know the how, but because you trust. the
• 15:15
  who. And so we have the opposite end of the spectrum.
• 15:18
  Now let's flip the script to Jonah. And so Jonah
• 15:22
  knew exactly where he was supposed to go, Nineveh.
• 15:25
  And what did he do? He ran. He didn't just ignore
• 15:30
  God. He went the complete opposite direction
• 15:32
  towards Tarshish. I mean, I think it's like 500
• 15:35
  miles difference. Why? Because faith felt too
• 15:39
  risky. Obedience felt uncomfortable and disobedience
• 15:44
  felt safer. He felt like they didn't deserve
• 15:46
  it. And so what happened to him? It didn't end
• 15:52
  well. God literally prepared a storm, a boat
• 15:56
  full of people panicking, a big fish to house
• 16:01
  a backslidden prophet that had great problems
• 16:05
  with attitude and pride. The message? It's scarier
• 16:09
  to disobey God than to walk into the unknown.
• 16:14
  And so walking by faith is active. And so we
• 16:17
  have in 2 Corinthians 5, 7, it says the word
• 16:24
  walk in Greek is P -E -R -I -P -A -T -O, peripetro,
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  which means to tread all around, to live, to
• 16:36
  conduct one's life. So that isn't just about
• 16:40
  movement. It's about how we live. Walking by
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  faith isn't a one -time event. It's a lifestyle.
• 16:49
  And so examples of scared yet obedient faith.
• 16:54
  Moses says, go to Pharaoh. Now, he had a ton
• 16:59
  of excuses. I mean, Moses says, but I stutter.
• 17:02
  God says, I made your mouth go. Moses did not
• 17:08
  feel qualified, but he obeyed. Faith isn't about
• 17:12
  credentials. It's about obedience. Mary, the
• 17:18
  angel says, you're going to give birth to the
• 17:20
  son. Mary says, let it be unto me according to
• 17:27
  your word. No manual, no maternity plan. Just
• 17:36
  faith and trust. And then you have Shadrach,
• 17:42
  Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3. They told
• 17:46
  Nebuchadnezzar, even if he doesn't, we will not
• 17:52
  bow. That's not just obedience. That's savage
• 17:57
  faith. That's I'd rather burn than bow faith.
• 18:02
  That's the kind of faith I want when my life
• 18:05
  does not make sense. And so let's go back to
• 18:10
  disobedience. And so let's talk about disobedience.
• 18:12
  You have Saul in 1 Samuel 15. God told Saul to
• 18:16
  completely destroy the Malachites. Did he? Nope.
• 18:22
  He kept the best livestock and spared King Agag.
• 18:29
  And then? God rejected him as king. Why? Because
• 18:36
  partial obedience is disobedience. And when you
• 18:40
  disobey out of fear, pride, self -preservation,
• 18:44
  you miss out on the fullness of God's plan. And
• 18:50
  so biblical faith is not vague hope. It is a
• 18:54
  substance. and evidence because we have scripture.
• 18:57
  We have Hebrews 11 .1 that says, faith is the
• 19:00
  substance of things hoped for and the evidence
• 19:04
  of things not seen. And so faith walks forward
• 19:08
  before the miracle happens. Faith says yes before
• 19:11
  it makes sense. Faith doesn't wait for a blueprint.
• 19:15
  And so we love the phrase, if God opens the door,
• 19:18
  I'll go. But what if he says go and then the
• 19:23
  Door's still locked. Are you willing to go anyway?
• 19:28
  Faith walks up to the door and trusts they'll
• 19:34
  open. And so let me tell you something a little
• 19:39
  crazier and wild, but the most beautiful thing
• 19:42
  that I've ever seen God do in my life happened
• 19:46
  when I had no clue what I was doing. Like we
• 19:49
  were talking about way before. And it was even
• 19:54
  just going into kids ministry. I had no degree.
• 19:58
  I had no experience. I had nothing. And now look
• 20:04
  what happened. I started a youth program at our
• 20:08
  church. We're doing a podcast. We have Fathering
• 20:11
  Faith Media, you know, starting ministries, writing
• 20:14
  messages, raising kids. I mean, but guess what?
• 20:18
  God didn't ask if I was equipped. He asked if
• 20:21
  I was willing. And I said, let's go. And then
• 20:26
  you have brick by brick and you have Nehemiah,
• 20:30
  you have Nehemiah kind of vibes. And so Nehemiah
• 20:33
  built a wall in 52 days. He had no building experience,
• 20:39
  no construction team, no vision or favor. And
• 20:45
  he just had, he had vision and favor and obedience
• 20:48
  and opposition. Oh, it came. But faith doesn't
• 20:54
  stop building because the haters show up. And
• 20:56
  believe me, they will. They will tell you that
• 20:58
  you are not qualified. They will tell you all
• 21:00
  the things that you don't have. They will tell
• 21:02
  you all the money problems that you're going
• 21:04
  to have. They will tell you and they will potentially
• 21:06
  leave you. But you can build scared. You can
• 21:11
  walk nervous. You can obey and still be shaking.
• 21:16
  God doesn't need you to be fearless. He needs
• 21:19
  you to be faithful. And so fear is okay. Faith
• 21:25
  without obedience is friction. Obedience delays
• 21:29
  destiny. Your calling doesn't require clarity.
• 21:33
  It requires courage. And so here's my challenge.
• 21:38
  What is God asking you to do and you're avoiding
• 21:41
  it because it doesn't make sense? Is it leaving
• 21:44
  that job? Is it leaving that person? Is it leaving
• 21:47
  that friend group? Is it about just taking that
• 21:50
  step? What have you been praying for clarity
• 21:54
  on? But he's already given you the command and
• 21:57
  you will not go. And so we have 2 Corinthians
• 22:01
  5, 7 that says walk by faith and not by sight.
• 22:04
  We have Hebrews 11 that says the hall of faith,
• 22:08
  read the whole chapter and let it marinate. You
• 22:12
  have James 2, 23 that says faith without works
• 22:15
  is dead. And you have Deuteronomy 5, 33. Walk
• 22:19
  in obedience to all the Lord has commanded you
• 22:21
  to do. And you have Joshua 1, 9. Be strong and
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  courageous and do not be afraid. Your Lord, your
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  God is with you. And so, yes, we can take those
• 22:31
  little snippets of those scriptures, but go back
• 22:34
  and read the whole chapter. Read it before. Read
• 22:37
  it below. Read it in context. Who was writing
• 22:40
  that message? Who are they writing it to? And
• 22:44
  so always take scripture for what it's worth.
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  Read the whole scripture. and not just take something
• 22:50
  out of context. And so do your homework, go read
• 22:53
  the whole, all of Corinthians, read all of Hebrews,
• 22:55
  read all of James, read all of Deuteronomy and
• 22:58
  take it as slow as you want to. It is not a race.
• 23:03
  And so whenever you're walking through scripture,
• 23:06
  if you're going to spend three weeks on one verse,
• 23:08
  okay, it is not a race. You don't have to read
• 23:11
  the Bible in a year. And so as we close this
• 23:15
  episode, we hope that this message encouraged
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  you and inspired you to go and walk and do it
• 23:21
  by faith. And so friends, you can do it scared.
• 23:24
  You can do it without all the answers. Do it
• 23:26
  because your God is faithful. And that's enough.
• 23:31
  Whether it's a new season, a new calling, a new
• 23:33
  battle, walk in it by faith and not by sight
• 23:36
  and trust that God will fill the gap between
• 23:40
  your ability. and his promise. And so we would
• 23:45
  love to pray for you this week. And so dear heavenly
• 23:47
  father, thank you so much for these listeners.
• 23:49
  Thank you so much for their courage. Thank you
• 23:50
  so much that they are going to go. Thank you
• 23:53
  so much for the ability to trust you because
• 23:55
  you are such a faithful father. Thank you so
• 23:57
  much that you have plans to prosper us. Thank
• 23:59
  you so much that we do not have to have a GPS,
• 24:01
  but we have God's direction. We have you by our
• 24:04
  hand. Thank you for walking with us. Thank you
• 24:06
  for your light on our feet. Thank you so much
• 24:09
  for all that you do in Jesus name. I pray. Amen.
• 24:12
  Well, this has been Fostering Faith and I am
• 24:14
  Tracy Foster, the girl that is doing life scared,
• 24:18
  doing it surrendered and doing it with Jesus.
• 24:21
  I can't wait to see what you guys walk through
• 24:24
  this week just because he said so. We love you
• 24:27
  guys. We hope to see you guys back next week.
• 24:31
  Have a great week. Bye.