Faith: Impala vs Impact

A few years ago, we took our family vacation in our nation’s capital. It was a 12-hour drive that we split into two days. Although Washington D.C. is not your typical hot spot for a family vacation, we had “Disney’d out”. So, we rented a Chevy Impala and took to the road.

I had never driven a Chevy Impala before that trip, and I must tell you that they drive VERY NICELY. The pick-up speed of an Impala is impressive. I almost hit 85 without blinking! (Almost can mean anywhere between 80 and 90…. just saying…shhhh). After I got a feel and respect for the Chevy Impala, I had to put it on cruise control for the rest of the trip.

It intrigues me to know why companies choose names for certain products, so I looked up what an impala was. An impala is a medium-sized antelope in South Africa that looks like a sleek deer. A male impala stands only about 4 feet tall with his horns. It is a beautiful creature that can run up to 50 miles an hour! An impala can also jump up to 9 feet into the air, leap straight across up to 30 feet, and jump in different directions landing on all four legs!

With all the choreography that the impala is capable of maneuvering, this magnificent creature can be kept confined inside any zoo with a 3-foot wall. Why is that? It is because the African Impala will NOT jump if they cannot see where their feet will land.

The impala has little faith in the abilities it has been gifted with when faced with a wall, he can’t see the other side of.

Many people are like that – if they don’t see what the outcome will be, they will not take a leap of faith, no matter what how gifted they are or how much they have to offer.

Faith is the ability to trust even though we cannot see something physically (Hebrews 11:1). But faith is not some kind of mind power or even a state of mind. It is more than that. Faith is being connected to God’s word and standing on His promises, knowing that what we see is not our lone reality, but it is what we know through prayer and God’s word that is our complete and whole reality. There is a spiritual world that we are connected to through faith and it is through that spiritual connection that we can face difficult and uncertain circumstances.

Everyone wants to make an impact or make a difference in the world around them, but making an impact requires faith. We cannot make an impact if we do not allow ourselves to be vulnerable and subject to God’s purpose for our lives. It is scary. It is crazy. But it pleases Him.

God was able to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things because they were willing to take a leap of faith. There are examples everywhere in the bible of common people who were willing to look foolish in the eyes of their peers and stand-alone to do what God asked them to do. One person can change the course of history by standing, in faith, on a promise God gave them.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Noah acted in faith even though it meant he was going to stand out and look like a crazy person. He was obedient to God and built the ark long before the first raindrop. (Hebrews 11:6-7).

I do not believe God is done working miracles. With all that is going on in the world around me, I only see Him setting up an infinite number of ways to perform miracles. As a Christian, I am not called to just observe the news, I am called to change the news, and that is going to take faith.

Changing the world and making an impact is what we are all called to do in our own corner of society. We can not sit back and weep at our circumstances and our trials. Put your faith in action, stand on God’s word, and leap across the wall that you cannot see across! It’s what you’re made for!

Little POW-wow, Pearls of Wisdom

What is it that God has asked you to do that requires faith?
Can you imagine a world where all of God’s people would trust His word and walk by faith and not by what we see? What does that world look like from your eyes?
What is on the other side of the wall that you are afraid to jump over? Do you know? If so, is it bigger than what God can handle? LEAP!

Tune My Heart…

Jordan Feliz is a pop Christian artist from Nashville, Tennessee. His first solo album, “The River”, was released in 2015. With that album, he won the GMA Dove award for the Best New Artist of the Year in 2016. He has since recorded 3 albums.

His song, Faith, was released in 2019. Listen to the words and especially pay attention to the line, “It’s when you believe it before you can see it. And you can walk on cause He’s making a way!” ENJOY!