Stepping Forward Scared: Trusting God During Seasons of Change

This year was a year of change for my wife and I as we welcomed our first biological child into the world in April.

Approaching the day our son was born, we both experienced a strong mixture of excitement and fear. Would we know what to do? What if something went wrong? Would we be able to develop new rhythms and routines?

Of course, it’s been awesome to get to know our son, and see him grow up so quickly. But it honestly felt so scary.

It got me thinking: How often do we ask those questions when God calls us to something new? How often do we respond to His prompting with all the reasons we should say no?

If you’re anything like me, more often than you would like.

It makes me think of the story of Moses. God miraculously appeared to him (literally speaking through a burning bush… imagine that!) and told him that he was chosen to free the people of Israel. What an amazing purpose to step into given directly from God!

But how did he respond?

Moses said, “They will not believe me or listen to my voice” (Ex. 4:1). When God encouraged him with more miraculous signs, he still said, “I am slow of speech and tongue” (v.10) and “Please send someone else” (v. 13).

Can you relate?

Moses, of course, went on to free the people of Israel and become an incredible leader used by God.

But he first had to step forward scared.

He had to obey even though he couldn’t see where the journey would lead.

He had to say yes to doing something far outside his comfort zone.

Before his death, Moses said something else. “It is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deut. 31:6). That same promise is true for us today. God is with us. He will not leave us or forsake us.

You see, it’s okay to be scared. It’s a natural emotion. But so often our fear of earthly things becomes a barrier to God’s purpose in our life. We don’t say “yes” to His call because we’re scared we don’t have what it takes. We’re frightened by the lack of control the journey would require.

Instead, I want to encourage you to say “yes” even though you’re scared. Don’t wait for the moment where it feels like everything falls into place and makes perfect sense. Trust God’s voice. Trust His leading in your life. And trust that He has created you exactly as He meant to.

So what is it for you? Maybe it’s a hard conversation. Becoming a foster parent. Joining something you’ve never been part of. Leaving something you’ve always been part of. Starting counseling. Maybe you’ve been following along with TFI and God is calling you to reach out about becoming an Advocate and launching a foster care ministry.

I don’t know what it is for you, but I know without a doubt that our God is faithful. He’s present. He’s with you and with me. He does not forsake us.

If He is calling you to step into something that’s outside of your comfort zone, listen to His voice today. He wants to do incredible things through your life!

But often seeing those things take place requires us to step forward scared.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:34

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I mentioned this briefly above, but I do want to remind you that applications to become a TFI Advocate will only be open for one more week! We’ve been sharing about this quite a bit recently, and if God has been stirring something in your heart, I want to encourage you to listen to that prompting.

If you are considering stepping forward scared in this way, please do! Helping people just like you launch and lead a thriving foster care ministry in your community is what our team does! We’d love to partner with you.

You can learn all about the role and take the first step right here.