Put On Waders

They went forth and preached every where, the Lord … confirming the word with signs following.

Mark 16:20 KJV

The first testimony I received after writing The Circle Maker — and one of my favorites — made reference to a drought in Mississippi fifty years ago. Not unlike Honi the circle maker, whose prayer ended a first-century drought in Israel, one man’s faith rose to the occasion in the land of the Delta.

When a drought threatened to destroy a season of crops, a rural church with many farmers in the congregation called for an emergency prayer meeting. Dozens of farmers showed up to pray. Most of them wore their traditional overalls, but one of them wore waders! He got a few funny looks, just like Noah did when he was building the ark, but isn’t that faith at its finest? If we genuinely believe God is going to answer our prayer for rain, isn’t that exactly what we would wear? Why not dress for the miracle? I love the simple, childlike faith of that old, seasoned farmer. He simply said, “I don’t want to walk home wet.” And he didn’t. But everyone else did.

I can’t help but wonder if that act of faith is what sealed the miracle. I don’t know for sure, but this I do know: God is honored when we act as if He is going to answer our prayers! And acting as if means acting on our prayers. After hitting our knees, we need to take a small step of faith. And those small steps of faith often turn into giant leaps.

Like Noah, who kept building an ark day after day, we keep hammering away at the dream God has given us. Like the Israelites, who kept circling Jericho for seven days, we keep circling God’s promises. Like Elijah,^a who kept sending his servant back to look for a rain cloud, we actively and expectantly wait for God’s answer.

$85 Faith

A year before we purchased the old crack house on Capitol Hill that we turned into Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse, I took an $85 step of faith. And I believe this $85 step of faith set us up for the $3 million miracle that happened many years later.

I was at an auction where items were being sold off to benefit our children’s school. Most people were bidding on class projects or tickets to sporting events or vacations. Not me. I had my eye on one item: a book on Capitol Hill zoning codes donated by the Capitol Hill Restoration Society.

I knew I could buy a copy for less money after we got a contract on the property, but I felt I needed to demonstrate my faith and purchase it before we got the contract. If we weren’t able to get the property, it would be a complete waste of money. But I believed that God was going to give it to us, so I acted on it by making an $85 bid. I got the book, and a few months later we got the contract on the property.

Sometimes we need to take an $85 step of faith just to show God that we’re serious. It proves our faith.

Don’t just pray about your dream; act on it. Act as if God is going to deliver on His promise. Maybe it’s time to put on waders and act as if God is going to answer. Maybe it’s time to make an $85 down payment on your dream.

Buy a ticket to the Broadway show you’re auditioning for. Buy a new suit for the dream job you’ve applied for. Buy a piece of furniture for the dream home you’ve been saving for. Buy a share of stock. Buy a subscription. Buy a book.

This isn’t some “name it, claim it” scheme. If it’s not in the will of God, if it’s not for the glory of God, it’s a waste of time, energy, and money. But if the dream is ordained by God, then that $85 step of faith honors God. And God will honor your $85 faith. Think of it as a down payment on your dream.

Signs Following

The last two words of Mark’s gospel are “signs following.”

We wish it said “signs preceding.”

We want God to go first. That way we don’t need to exercise any faith at all. But we’ve got it backward. If we want to see God move, we need to make a move. If it seems like God isn’t moving in our lives, maybe it’s because we aren’t moving. But if we make a move, God will move heaven and earth to honor our faith.

There comes a moment when we need to make a statement of faith. I’m not talking about a collection of theological truths written on paper; I’m talking about a statement of faith written with our lives. Faith is not a noun; it’s a verb — an action verb. The greatest and truest statement of faith is a life well lived. It is faith fleshed out through risks and sacrifices. It is daring to go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.

We can pray until our knees are numb, but if our praying isn’t accompanied by acting, then we won’t get anywhere. We need to put feet to our faith. After kneeling down, we need to stand up and step out in faith. There is an old adage: the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Based on my experience, that first step is always the hardest and longest step. It will require the most faith. It will feel the most awkward. But if we step out in faith, signs will follow. In fact, an avalanche of blessing will overtake us and overwhelm us. We’ll be buried in God’s blessings.

Wet Feet

When the Israelites were on the verge of entering the Promised Land, God commanded the priests to step into the river. It’s one of the most counterintuitive commands in Scripture: “When you reach the banks of the Jordan River,^b take a few steps into the river.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly like getting my feet wet. I’d much rather have God part the river, and then I’ll step into the miracle. That way I don’t get my feet wet, but if we aren’t willing to get our feet wet, we’ll never walk through parted rivers on dry ground.

At flood tide, the Jordan River was approximately two hundred feet wide. That was all that separated the Israelites from their four-hundred-year-old promise. Their dream was practically a stone’s throw away. But if the priests hadn’t stepped into the river, they may well have spent the rest of their lives on the eastern banks of the Jordan River. And that’s where many of us spend our lives. We’re so close to the dream, so close to the promise, so close to the miracle. But we’re waiting for God to part the river, while God is waiting for us to get our feet wet.

We’ll never see God part the Jordan River if our feet are firmly planted on dry ground. But if we step into the river, God will part it.

If you want to see God move, make a move.