Baby Steps = Confident Steps

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1.6

When our two little boys were learning to walk, like all children they stumbled, fell, tripped, miraculously reappeared on their feet, and tried again. As their Dad, I knew that they would eventually get the hang of taking a few steps, then walking in a (fairly) straight line, then eventually they would build up the coordination to be regular walking humans. Now they’re 8 and 6 and we can’t keep them in one place for long!

Throughout the process I tried to help (when not laughing) by removing obstacles from their path, holding their hand when they needed it, or sometimes picking them up and reorienting them when they hit a dead-end. They knew I was there, and this gave them the confidence to walk on.

The same is true of our loving Father in heaven, perhaps without the laughing. He removes obstacles from our path, helps us past them, walks with us, and can even totally change the course of our lives when we are heading down the wrong path. This is all with one goal in mind: our salvation and sanctification. 

I love what Charles Spurgeon said about this verse,

Show me for once a world abandoned and thrown aside half formed; show me a universe east off from the Great Potter’s wheel, with the design in outline, the clay half hardened, and the form unshapely from incompleteness.

Direct me, I pray you, to a star, a sun, a satellite–nay, I will challenge you on lower ground: point me out a plant, an emmet, a grain of dust that hath about it any semblance of incompleteness…
But all God’s works are finished with wondrous care; He as accurately fashions the dust of a butterfly’s wing, as those mighty orbs that gladden the silent night.

If you are setting off in a new direction this coming year, taking steps into a new venture, walking deeper into your faith with God, I would encourage you to do it confidently. Walk with confidence into whatever He has for you knowing that our Father in heaven is there;

there directing those steps,

there clearing obstacles,

there holding your hand,

and there to step in and change the path if He needs to.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1.6