Psalm 19

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

² Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

³ There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

⁴ Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

⁵ Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

⁶ His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

⁸ The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

¹¹ Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

¹² Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

¹³ Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! ESV

As we grow in Christ we will come to the stairs, those opportunities to step up in faith. For a toddler the stairs are a big hurdle. In the spirit, growth in Christ, stepping up by faith is that equivalent obstacle. Unsteady and unsure in the toddler, unsteady and unsure in the new believer.

Fear of falling is real. No one wants to step out in faith only to fail. When a toddler steps up the stairs he sees immediate results. He achieves his goal and that sense of accomplishment is evident. Not so with stepping out in faith. The results of stepping out in faith are not always evident, we are not always rewarded with immediate results of our actions.

Stepping out in faith should not be seen as a reward. So many times we have this expectation of results because everything in the natural world is cause and effect, effort and reward. In the spiritual realm the transfer of action to results is not physical, it is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Obedience of faith is its own reward.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We obey to please, just as we obey our fathers in the natural world, we obey by faith to please our heavenly Father. The rewards of faith come in the seeking.