Inspired by . . . thoughts on faith Vol. III

Inspired by . . . thoughts on faith Vol. III

It was mid-December, and I clearly remember the sweetest man in the world and I sitting at our dining table, and I said something like, “I hope nothing happens with Dad. I can’t handle one more thing right now. I’m serious, honey, if something happened with Dad I really think I would lose it.”

On January 3rd Dad had a stroke and was hospitalized. He passed away on February 4th.

Since that time, God has been teaching me a lot about faith. Real faith. Faith that saves.

 

And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy,

lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy;

Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. Mat 9:2

 

Let me be clear, God did not cause my dad’s stroke and subsequent passing in response to those fear-filled comments I made in December. That would be arbitrary, and cruel. God is neither. He is good, and just, and right. Always. In everything.  Yes, those are absolutes - -and they are Truth.

God already knew, in intimate detail, that these events were getting ready to unfold. He used my weakness as an opportunity to teach me, and to grow my faith.

You see, I thought I had a strong faith. If I were to boast about one thing, I would boast of my strong faith in God.

 

But without faith it is impossible to please Him:

for he that cometh to God must believe that He is,

and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Heb 11:6

 

In the days following my dad’s passing, God spoke to me, tenderly, in more ways than I can count.  Dad’s Christmas cactus, put on new buds and bloomed again. A dear friend, sent a live oak to plant in his memory. Finding dad’s bible, seeing the marks and notations of a faith he rarely spoke about.  Soft assurances about many things. God carefully bandaged the wound, and prepared me to hear from Him some hard truths.

 

 

My grief has made me question my faith. My trust in Him. Is God enough? Do I truly trust Him to do what is best for me, every time? Do I pray with faith, being fully persuaded, as Abraham was, that God will do what He has promised to do?

Or am I too quick to let go of the rope?

When I’m praying {wrestling} with God over a matter,  I often give up, rather than keeping ahold of the rope and allowing Him to pull me into His will. Into His perfect peace.

I may disguise my response by praying the prayer that never fails, “God’s will be done.” But, rather than praying that prayer in faith, what I’m really saying is, “What does it matter? God’s going to do what He wants to do anyway.”

God has shown me that this line of thinking is a complete cop-out. It’s faithless, and it dishonors God.

Faith is not faith for the sake of faith. Faith has an object, and that object is God Himself. True faith is believing that God will act according to His character. True faith is being fully persuaded that He will fulfill His promises to us. Not only believing these things, but acting on that belief.

 

 

And truly, I do believe. The area where my faith most needs to mature is acting on my belief.

It’s the difference between standing in the crowd, and reaching out to touch His robe.

And be healed.

Blessings,

June

 

 

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