Thoughts for the day on "faith"

Last night before I went to sleep I was reading in Bill Hybels' book Too Busy Not to Pray and he was discussing the importance of taking the first step and gave the example of the priests/people crossing the Jordan River.  Joshua tells us, "See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord or all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you... and as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord - the Lord of all the earth - set foot in the Jordan, it's waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.  Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge. The water from upstream stopped flowing (3:11, 13, 15, 16).

Hybels goes on to write that "God didn't give the priests absolute proof or even overwhelming evidence that the waters would part. He did nothing until they put their feet in the water, taking the first step of commitment and obedience. Only then did he stop the flow of the river. In the same way, mountain-moving faith will be given to us as we step out and follow the Lord's direction" (p. 84).

Then I read Hebrews 12, then Hebrews 11, and then Hebrews 13 this morning. In my handwritten notes from before, for the beginning of Hebrews 11 wrote, "step out in the dark and trust in God to light your path."  I highlighted verses 1 and 6.
- Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
- And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

I don't really know why this stuck out for me today.  Part of it, I think and feel, stems from my unexplainably poor attitude on Thursday, and my dwelling on the things that I don't have in this life.  But by Friday morning, I woke up to worship songs in my head and was reminded that THIS is where God has made my path to go today.  Maybe it is because what I thought what was a strong faith is becoming even deeper? Another thing that came to mind is that a friend said a few months ago, that whenever he follows God's prompting, he's blessed by that (... maybe not a quote, but at least my paraphrase of what I heard).  Do I trust in my God and have faith like that?  I'm certainly not perfect, and being human I will have my doubts.  Overall, through my battle within me to slow down and listen, and to let God be in control rather than me, I'm learning.  I am more ready now to follow by faith where God is leading me, than I ever have before.