“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”Hebrews 11:1(NIV)
Though ultimately it is our faith in Jesus Christ that is most important, everything in life takes faith. It takes faith to get married, to have children, to go to work every day, to get out of bed every morning–everything in life takes faith.
We have to trust people every day. When we pick up food, or go out to eat, when we drive down the road we are trusting that others will obey traffic regulations like stopping at red lights. Nearly everything we do involves some small act of faith.
It is no wonder that God values faith so highly. He wants us to trust that He is taking care of things even when we cannot see how He will do so. We trust doctors, dentists, health care workers of all sorts. We trust that the pharmacist has correctly filled our prescriptions when we take our medication. Life revolves around faith and trust.
For those who suffer from chronic afflictions faith and trust can be hard to come by. We have at times been disappointed, from doctors and other health care providers, from friends and family, and at times we are even disappointed in ourselves when we fail to meet our own expectations. I think we also are sometimes disappointed in God. We wonder why He allows so much heartache into our lives, and why He doesn’t put an end to our hardships.
This brings us back to faith. The myriad of hardships and frustrations in our lives can cause us to question God’s goodness. But if we dig a bit deeper into the question, beyond the obvious problems and hardships in our lives, we could just as well ask ourselves–why not me? Why am I still alive when so many others have passed on? Why am I allowed to spend time with my family and friends when so many have neither family nor friends for comfort and support? Why does God continue to bless us even in the midst of our afflictions?
We may not feel capable of big leaps of faith, yet every day we live on this earth takes an act of faith, or more precisely, many little acts of faith. We can take our frustrations and disappointments to God because we have faith that there is a God. We can lean upon family and friends in tough times because we have faith in the love of family and friends. We can find our way through every difficult and trying day because we have faith that there is a God that cares about us, even when we feel frustrated toward Him because of life’s circumstances.
I would encourage you this week not to focus on huge leaps of faith, but instead to focus on the many small everyday ways we incorporate faith into our lives, then expand that understanding of the small steps of faith to begin piecing together the larger mosaic of faith that ties together all the elements making our life one continuous walk of faith hand in hand with God.
Prayer: Dear Lord, sometimes we feel frustrated at the irritations in our lives, but we can step over everything blocking our path because of our faith in You. Amen.
Though ultimately it is our faith in Jesus Christ that is most important, everything in life takes faith. It takes faith to get married, to have children, to go to work every day, to get out of bed every morning–everything in life takes faith.
We have to trust people every day. When we pick up food, or go out to eat, when we drive down the road we are trusting that others will obey traffic regulations like stopping at red lights. Nearly everything we do involves some small act of faith.
It is no wonder that God values faith so highly. He wants us to trust that He is taking care of things even when we cannot see how He will do so. We trust doctors, dentists, health care workers of all sorts. We trust that the pharmacist has correctly filled our prescriptions when we take our medication. Life revolves around faith and trust.
For those who suffer from chronic afflictions faith and trust can be hard to come by. We have at times been disappointed, from doctors and other health care providers, from friends and family, and at times we are even disappointed in ourselves when we fail to meet our own expectations. I think we also are sometimes disappointed in God. We wonder why He allows so much heartache into our lives, and why He doesn’t put an end to our hardships.
This brings us back to faith. The myriad of hardships and frustrations in our lives can cause us to question God’s goodness. But if we dig a bit deeper into the question, beyond the obvious problems and hardships in our lives, we could just as well ask ourselves–why not me? Why am I still alive when so many others have passed on? Why am I allowed to spend time with my family and friends when so many have neither family nor friends for comfort and support? Why does God continue to bless us even in the midst of our afflictions?
We may not feel capable of big leaps of faith, yet every day we live on this earth takes an act of faith, or more precisely, many little acts of faith. We can take our frustrations and disappointments to God because we have faith that there is a God. We can lean upon family and friends in tough times because we have faith in the love of family and friends. We can find our way through every difficult and trying day because we have faith that there is a God that cares about us, even when we feel frustrated toward Him because of life’s circumstances.
I would encourage you this week not to focus on huge leaps of faith, but instead to focus on the many small everyday ways we incorporate faith into our lives, then expand that understanding of the small steps of faith to begin piecing together the larger mosaic of faith that ties together all the elements making our life one continuous walk of faith hand in hand with God.
Prayer: Dear Lord, sometimes we feel frustrated at the irritations in our lives, but we can step over everything blocking our path because of our faith in You. Amen.
Karlton Douglas
Copyright 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please Leave Feedback Here.
Thanks!