How Faith Works #13 – Challenge
Charlie Riggs came to faith in Christ as a teenager. But he didn’t mature spiritually until he served in the U.S. Army and was discipled and mentored by another Christian man.
The discipline and total commitment that marked his Army life merged with his personal commitment to Christ.
With little formal education, Charlie Riggs developed a simple tool to help a person understand how to have a personal relationship with Christ.
The resulting booklet, “Steps to Peace With God,” became standard issue in Billy Graham’s evangelism ministry. It has since been translated into dozens of languages in various printed and electronic forms and shared with millions of people. (To see the current version: https://peacewithgod.net/.)
Charlie also designed a successful follow-up model for citywide evangelism. At first Billy Graham said, “I didn’t think he could do it. But I had this peace – that Charlie so depended on the Holy Spirit that I knew the Lord could do it through Charlie.”
When Charlie Riggs died, he was remembered: “Charlie lived a life in close communication with Jesus.” “This humble man had tremendous spiritual power.” “Charlie was a lifetime laborer, developing spiritual laborers everywhere he went.”
What was the secret to his spiritual life? His prayer: “I always asked the Lord to put me in over my head. That way, when I had a job to do, either the Lord had to help me or I was sunk.”
God answered this prayer repeatedly. He put Charlie Riggs in over his head – and then lifted him out.
How many of us play it safe? We pray only for what we think we can handle. Our answers are small because our prayers are small.
Here’s the challenge. Make Charlie Riggs’ prayer your own: “Lord, put me in over my head.”
It’s safer to stay in shallow water where we can always feel the bottom under our feet. But the real challenge is to jump in where the water is over our heads.
We may become anxious that we’re about to sink. Yet that’s where we learn to trust God to lift us up, keep us afloat, and carry us through.
Faith thrives on a challenge. “Lord, put me in over my head.”
~ Pastor Dave
