I’d like to turn to Mark 12:41-44. This is where Jesus watches people place their offerings into the temple treasury. And He sees a poor widow approach and drop in two small coins. 

Jesus tells His disciples, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

This is faith. Jesus does not praise the amount, but the risk involved. There are moments when God leads us in ways we do not understand. We may not understand His timing, or His methods, or His delays, but we should remember: God sees what we cannot see. He sees what’s around every corner.

Isaiah 55:8 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways…”

Faith means trusting that God’s wisdom is greater than our own. This means keeping our eyes on God, NOT ON OURSELVES. One of the most powerful images of faith in Scripture is Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on water.

In Matthew 14:28–29, Matthew writes, “Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.” Peter did something impossible for a human, but he responded to Jesus’ voice. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked on the waves. But when he took his focus off Jesus and locked onto the wind and the storm, he began to sink.

Could we count how many times we do the same thing? We begin in faith, but then we often turn our focus to:

• Our obstacles
• The risks involved
• What others think about us
• Our fear of failure
• And our uncertainty about the future

Faith grows weak when we focus more on the storm rather than on Jesus. The good news is that even when Peter began to sink, Jesus reached out His hand. Even when our faith is weak, God’s grace is strong. For us, one of the biggest obstacles to stepping out in faith is our fear.

Fear asks:

• What if I fail?
• What if things do not work out?
• What if people reject me?
• What if I lose something?
• What if I am not enough?

But faith asks:

• What if God is with me?
• What if God provides?
• What if God opens a door?
• What if God does something greater than I imagined?

Fear looks at problems. Faith looks at God. Throughout Scripture, one of God’s repeated commands is found in Isaiah 41:10. “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

God never promised that faith would remove our fear. But courage is obeying God in the presence of fear. Faith means saying, “I am afraid, but I trust God more than I trust my fear.” Faith is not merely believing in God mentally. Faith leads to action. James says in Chapter 1, verse 22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” He’s trying to teach us that genuine faith produces obedience.

Later, in chapter 2, verse 17, he writes, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Real faith changes the way we live. If we truly trust God, we’ll obey Him. But we should also remember that obedience can be costly. It can cost us:

• Our pride
• Our Comfort
• Our Reputation
• Even Time
• Money
• Or a Relationship

One of the greatest truths about faith we can cling to is that God often meets us along the way, after we step out into that faith. God met the Israelites AFTER they stepped into the Jordan River. Joshua 3:13 says, “And as soon as the priests who carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing Downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” 

Sometimes we want certainty before obedience, but God often calls for obedience before certainty. We see this pattern again and again as:

• Abraham left his home, and God guided him.
• Moses obeyed, and God parted the Red Sea.
• David trusted God, and the giant fell.
• And Peter stepped out, and Jesus held him up.

This is part one of an edited version of a message I presented in church on Sunday, April 19, 2026. Be sure to return next Thursday for the conclusion.

©2026 Clayton Moore | mooreofclayton.com