Faith

-
Our capacity as humans to doubt what we cannot see is fathomless, which makes the gift of faith extremely precious. Hebrews defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (11:1, NASB), and goes on to tell us that faith is how “the men of old” received God’s approval (vs. 2). How hard that must have been!  I can understand the struggles of faith in Elijah when he faced Jezebel’s wrath after God used him to purge the nation of 400 Baal prophets at Mt. Carmel (I Kings 18-19); however, it gives me pause when I consider his doubt when faced with the amazing work God had just accomplished through him. His lack of faith caused him flee Jezebel’s wrath immediately following a footrace against Ahab’s chariot (which he won, by the way). I say give the guy a break--God came through for him in unlikely ways, but Elijah did not have the Holy Spirit resting on him continually as we do as New Testament believers. Jesus has paved the way for us through the gift of faith (Eph. 2:8), yet the gift does not remove our ability to doubt. Jesus says in John 20:29 that those who haven’t seen him and have believed are blessed. If the disciples who walked the earth with him had struggles, what makes us think we won’t? My answer to this dilemma has been to pray for more faith. When I doubt, for whatever reason, I ask God to help me learn from the experience and to give me enough faith to please Him and bring Him glory. There is always faith available, but I don’t always tap into the source like I should. I want to please Him, and Hebrews 11 tells me that I cannot please Him without faith—and that I must believe not only that He is, but that He also rewards those who seek after Him (vs. 6). I will continue to seek Him and His generous supply of faith because I know that human that I am, I will waver occasionally, and I will need His precious gifting of faith to pull me back to where I should have never left.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. If you have concerns or questions, I will do my best to answer them privately. I will publish comments at my discretion publicly if they glorify God.

Popular posts from this blog

An Uncertain Affinity (2 Cor. 4:7-11; Gen. 3:16)

-
Image
Today in my devotion time, I came across a word that led me to another word. Can I say that this is my usual, lifelong problem in reading dictionary entries . . . I have a hard time stopping.  It’s a real problem. ☺ The word connected to the word I was looking up about the tabernacle was skeuos . In the Greek, this word carries the meaning “of uncertain affinity; a vessel, implement, equipment or apparatus (literal or figurative [specifically a wife as contributing to the usefulness of the husband]):--goods, sail, stuff, vessel.” I got caught immediately in the first part: “uncertain affinity.”  Uncertain means “not able to be relied on; not known or definite.” Affinity means “a spontaneous or natural liking or sympathy for someone or something.” Putting these two words together is something of an oxymoron, which in the Greek literally means “pointedly foolish” because of its seeming contradiction. How in the world can you have an affinity for something you don’t know? How...
Read more

Letting Go Is Hard (Hebrews 12:1-2)

-
I sit among boxes piling a bit higher each day as I pack my life up once again. I say again, but in the grander scheme of things I haven’t moved that often in my 33 years of married life, and since the kids were born, I have only moved three times until now. We will be renting for a while until we can find a place to land, so I am purging things much more robustly than I have ever done with any other move. Sorting through 33 years (plus some things I had before marrying) has been utterly distracting, difficult to accomplish, and slow to finish. Homes need things, and things need a home, but I am finding I have held on to far too much over the years. Letting go is hard. Stuff.  Too much stuff. Merriam-Webster defines stuff as “materials, supplies, or equipment used in various activities: such as personal property.” By this definition, we own what we need to DO something. I have done much the last five years while I have not been in the classroom daily. Pottery was the first thing ...
Read more

Under Construction (All of the Bible . . .)

-
Do you remember the logic  🧩 (or riddles or analogies or challenges—not sure what to call the kind of word puzzle I mean) of childhood past where one was required to look at a grouping of words and figure out based on their arrangement what they meant together? Something like this one below: CONSTRUCTION soul The correct way to solve it would be soul under construction . If you notice, construction is weighty, and the soul is small under the burden of change. Maybe it has seemed quiet to you lately from this quarter. It is true that I have not written in a while, but it has not been because my soul has been absent of either noise or the quiet contemplation of time spent in the Word. I have been wrestling with myself, not with New Year's resolutions but with what I know about God, with the disconnect I sometimes feel between living out truth versus what my flesh wants in all its ugliness. There is the other side of wrestling, however, when it goes on too long without acti...
Read more