How to have a real relationship with God?

Sep 3

Don’t Straddle the Fence: Live by Faith

Have you ever tried to keep one foot in two different places at once?

When I was a kid, my mom took our family to Carowinds amusement park. Right inside the entrance, there was a little pathway where you could put one foot in North Carolina and the other in South Carolina at the same time. As a pre-teen, I thought that was the coolest thing ever—walking in two states at once!

But here’s the truth: when it comes to our walk with God, straddling the fence is not living by faith. (watch the video teaching here)

One Foot in the World, One Foot with God

It’s tempting to live with one foot in the world and the other with God. We think, I love Jesus, but I still want to do things my way. We end up trying to straddle the line—half in, half out. But that’s not what Habakkuk 2:4 says:

“The righteous shall live by his faith.”

That verse is so important that it gets repeated three times in the New Testament—Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38. Living by faith isn’t about standing halfway in. It’s about leaving one place and stepping fully into another.

Leaving One Place to Step into Another

My wife, Ginny, and I experienced this first-hand on a trip to New England. We were in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, eating breakfast—actually in the middle of a pretty heated argument (so obvious the waitress couldn’t miss it!). Later, a friend told us we could walk across the bridge from Portsmouth into Kittery, Maine.

So we did. We left New Hampshire and walked into Maine. And that’s what walking by faith looks like: leaving one way of living behind and stepping into the new life God has for us.

Baptism is the same picture—you bury the old self and rise to walk in newness of life. No more straddling the line. No more “half in, half out.” Living by faith means going all in with God.

All In with God

If you’ve ever played cards, you know the phrase “all in.” It means you’re pushing all your chips to the center of the table. You’re not holding back. That’s the life of faith—trusting God fully, even when life doesn’t make sense.

Maybe you’ve been holding on to past arguments, old wounds, or regrets. Maybe you’ve been straddling the fence—loving God, but not fully surrendering. Living by faith means letting go of what’s behind and moving forward into what God has for you.

As Hebrews 10:39 says:

“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

Don’t Shrink Back

I often sign off church emails with the phrase, “Don’t shrink back.” That comes from Hebrews 10. It’s my way of saying: keep moving forward in faith. Don’t hold back. Don’t straddle the line.

So let me ask you: are you all in with God? Or are you still standing with one foot in the world and one foot in with Him?

Today, you can make the choice to step forward in faith. Leave behind the old life. Go all in with Jesus. He loves you, He died for you, and He invites you to walk with Him fully.

Don’t straddle the fence. Don’t shrink back. Live by faith.

-DSB, Pastor Joey Rumble

Summerbrook Church