As I read my Bible this morning, read the devotionals, it seems that everything was pointing to faith. Faith in what? Certainly not our abilities to do things. Certainly not in things we buy or use. Certainly not in CREATED things. No, everything points to the CREATOR.
I sit here and think about what do I have faith in.... is it in myself? No, I can do nothing unless God gives me that ability to do it. I can't even work at my job, unless He gives me the mindset to know what to do. (Thank you, Lord) Do I have faith in my money? Heck, no! It fades faster than a glass of water being drank! Is our faith in our government? Oh the pain of that one! If anyone has faith in our government, heaven help him! This is a painful time. My heart and my mind has been pulled and stretched - and each time I have to fall on my face and cry out to God for mercy upon this nation. No, definitely no faith in our government. But we are to pray for them, regardless of who is in office. God says so.
There are several other things I could mention and ask if we have faith in, but I think you get the general idea of the question. Did you pause to ask yourself 'what do I have faith in'? You have to believe in something? It just popped in my mind of someone saying 'Yes, I believe I will have another ....' - you can fill in the blank. Sorry - the humor just popped in. But what do we truly have faith in?
James 1 talks about having faith and not doubting - for if you doubt, you are a double-minded man (or woman). I paused and thought about things I had had faith in the past. For one, a biggie, is that my daughter would be healed of acute lymphoblastic leukemia with the Philadelphia chromosone. The thought of 'she won't make it' never entered my mind, even when she was the sickest. I stood on my faith and cried out to God, and He heard me, (and hundreds of others all over the world), and healed her.
There are other things that I have had faith for and God didn't answer me the way I wanted Him to. But I still believed He would. And He probably DID answer, but He answered His way, and not mine. My job is to ask and to believe that He will answer; and He always answers but that answer may also be 'no'. And I accept that, although sometimes it is very painful to accept. I have had two brothers and my mother pass on. Did I pray that they would live? Yes. Did I believe that God would heal them and restore them? Yes. Did He? No. I don't know why He didn't.
I can remember when my father in law passed away and how devastated I was. After remarrying, dad was my best friend and the one I felt I could run to with issues and he would encourage me and help me understand the behavior, etc. of my new husband. I adored him and we talked and wrote each other frequently. I had printed some stationary for him to write on (as this was still before computers and emails) 'From the dining room table of....'. After dad passed, I was cleaning out a closet and found a box with more of the stationary in it and I burst into tears. I screamed at God and told Him how hurt I was that He took my father in law away from me. I was so angry with Him and screaming and crying and telling Him all that I was feeling.
I remember, too, feeling His arms wrap around me and holding me close, I felt He whispered into my ear, "I know it hurts. I know you miss him. But I'm here. I love you." And the peace that passeth all understanding flooded over me. That moment of being totally honest with God on what I was feeling was a complete release of what I had been holding in. Never would I have thought I would have screamed at God (good thing I was home alone). But, in doing so, I released all the pain I had been holding in. I don't encourage anyone to scream at God, but He does want us to share what we feel and reassure us that He is there and knows what we are going through. After all, God gave us His beloved Son, Jesus, and He died. The good news is that Jesus rose again, and we shall too at some point.
Wow, my mind has been traveling roads I haven't traveled for awhile. I guess sometimes we need to rehearse what God HAS done for us, because in doing so, it reaffirms our faith in Him and that He truly does love us. When we have painful things happen, He knows what we are feeling. We can't understand the WHY, but we can always lean into the WHO. And we can always have the faith that no matter what happens to us or around us - God is always there and He will never leave us nor forsake us. When we lose a loved one, He's there. When we go through sickness, or a loved one does, He is still there. When we have financial issues, He is there. When our children drive us crazy, He is still there.
Keep running to Him. Keep asking. Keep reaching out to Him. He will increase your faith and help you to understand that life isn't always what we want it to be, but with Him, it is always better than it could be.
I don't know what my future holds, life or death, sickness or losing everything. I don't know. But I do know Who holds my future. Jesus is the Author and Perfector of my faith. Everything I am and everything I have, belongs to Him alone. I have nothing on my own. These 'things' can be destroyed in an instant. I can grow weary of them or even have to let them go (which I have learned a lot about this past year - the letting go). They are just things. But my faith stands firm on the Word of God.
Where is your faith today? What do you believe in? What holds you together? Try God. Read His Word. It's all true. Even today. Trials and temptations will come. But our God stands firm.
God said it. I believe it. That settles it.
Blessings!
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