Have you ever seen the movie “What About Bob”? Bill Murray plays a man named Bob with a lot of problems who seeks help from a psychologist played by Richard Dreyfuss. The movie is hilarious and one of my favorites. In the movie, the psychologist writes a book called “Baby Steps” and uses this to treat Bob. The premise of this treatment is to take small baby steps as you move towards recovery. It is all about being cautious and taking as little risk as necessary. I like the idea of baby steps. It is safe. The problem is that none of us were created to play it always safe. Following Christ is not a safe venture, just read Foxes Book of Martyrs if you don’t agree. God asks us to do risky things at times. To take big steps. No, it is not always safe, but it is always secure.
When I think of big steps, I think of Abraham. Abraham was called to leave home and family to go to a new land he had never seen before. God promised that through him the nations would be blessed and that he would be the father of a nation of priests. I can imagine his first step on that journey. It was a step of faith and it was probably a big one. Later in life Abraham was asked to take another huge step of faith. God had fulfilled his promise and gave Abraham a son. God then commanded Abraham to take his son up a mountain to sacrifice him. What kind of step did he take that day as he reached the mountain and began to climb it with his son? Abraham had seen God keep His promise by bringing him to this new land and giving him a son. Abraham knew of God’s provision and protection. Abraham knew God had the plan and so I believe that step was yet another huge step of faith.
I think we often approach life and ministry with the “Baby Step” mentality. It is scary to take risk and in an economy gone crazy it seems prudent to take it easy and play it safe. I understand all to well the struggle of resources versus need. This past week I have been confronted with the immensity of the need to reach students in my area. There are over 24,000 of them and everyone is busy trying to run their own programs and keep their ministries going with limited resources. It seems overwhelming, but then we pause and think about the God of Abraham. The God that has the plan. I was once challenged to dream a dream so big, that it would fail if God was not in it. What if we approached ministry and life this way? I am not saying be crazy and just spend everything on a whim. What if we allowed God to give us the dream? What if we truly believe God is as big as we know He is and trusted Him to provide?
I know for certain that God is bigger than any dream or need I have. I believe that God is calling us to dream big and trust Him. We can reach our entire communities because God is that big. We can change our world because God is the one who gives us the dreams and makes them possible. I know that worldly logic today screams at us to take it easy and be cautious, but I say the day of taking baby steps are long gone. We need to take some huge steps. We need to step out in faith.
There is so much ministry out there to be done. We need to seek God for His dream for our communities and ministries and then be quick to follow. Each step we take is a step of faith. We do not know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future. If it is a dream that God is in, how can it fail? God wants to do a work and He will do it with or without us. He does not need us to fulfill His plans, but he does invite us to join. We need only to take the step.
The first step is always the scariest, but we follow God who knows the road ahead and what’s waiting at the end of the journey. Abraham took his steps and God provided a ram at the top of that mountain to replace his son. May we be people who dream big dreams about changing our world that God has given us, because we follow a big God. May we be bold and take big steps of faith, because we follow a God who is faithful. May we leave the baby steps to Bob.