Want to Have Faith in God? Just Take One Step

Maybe you want to deepen your faith in God.

Maybe you’re not even sure there is a God.

Maybe you’re like I was and find something missing in your life.

Maybe you just know in your heart that if you have faith in God it will make your life better.

Whatever the reason, congratulations. Because a commitment to change your life will take you far. But you don’t build a faith that lasts just by getting a notion in your head.

You need something more.

Let’s just get to the bottom of the hill

There’s a scene in the Lord of the Rings where Frodo and Sam are nearing the final stage of their quest.

They’ve just climbed a huge ridge, and when they get to the top, they can see Mordor in the distance for the first time. It seems so overwhelming.

Frodo sighs and says, “How will we ever make it all the way, Sam?”

Sam just looks at him and says, “Right now, let’s just make it to the bottom of this hill.”

My faith in God came from simply taking the next step

I had my first real awakening to faith in God when I was 33 years old. I grew up Catholic but had fallen away as a teen.

Then after 20 years I found myself restless with life. I wanted something more, and the quest to find it led my wife and I back to our Catholic Faith.

I had no idea how to grow in faith but I wanted to learn. It was 1998, and I was in the Navy stationed in Japan. There were no Catholic bookstores, but the Internet was just starting up. So my wife began researching on the web.

I would come home from work and she would say something like, “They say we should pray the rosary every day.” So we did. Then she said, “There’s this thing called Eucharistic adoration, we should probably start doing that.” So, I said okay!

We were far from good Catholics at that point and still practiced birth control. However, we did one thing right. When we found out about something new, we were open to it. We always took the next step. And, we kept on taking the next step…where ever it led.

Eventually, our faith life really grew. We became so enamored with the Catholic Faith that our lives completely changed…for the better.

The Saints are sinners who never gave up

When I first looked at the Saints, their faith seemed completely impossible. They thought and acted differently than normal people. I thought they were chosen…singled out. Special people the Lord gave more to.

But they were so joyful! They loved so much! They delighted in God so much. They suffered so well. They were attractive.

Then, the more I read about them, the more I realized that the Saints didn’t start out that way. They had faith journeys too. They made mistakes. They often came from a lives of sin. What made them different?

The saints aren’t people who’ve never sinned. They are sinners who never gave up. Click to tweet.

They never stopped following the Lord. They never stopped loving the Lord. They never stopped asking for forgiveness, and never stopped taking the next step. They were on a quest! A quest for God!

Just take one step toward having faith…today

The key to progress in the spiritual life is to start today and just take one step! Just one.

Whatever the devotion, start today. Start reading Scripture…today. Start reading the Catechism…today. Starting going to daily Mass…today. Start praying every day…today.

Then take another step and do it tomorrow. But don’t think about that right now. Just worry about today.

Remember, the ones who make progress are the ones who actually get started. They only worried about making it to the bottom of the hill. They wait to worry about the next hill later.

What have you got to lose except the fear, doubt, hopelessness? The pain of living one more day without meaning and purpose? One more day without the fulfillment you know you’re missing.

Just start taking that one step. That’s all you have to think about right now. And this will be the first day in your new life of faith.

Image courtesy of CNaene / FreeDigitalPhotos.net