What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. God gave His approval to people in days of old because of their faith...It is by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying - " suddenly he disappeared because god took him." But before he was taken up, he was approved as pleasing to God. So you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that there is a God and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.
Heb 11: 1-2, 5-6
The Lord brought this to my mind the other day...especially the last verse - that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him. I felt encouraged to keep moving toward Him. I realized in all my wallowing that I had lost sight of His character, that I was too focused on what I wanted again. I am back to praying for more faith, praying that in the future it will be so strong and steadfast that I do not waver. Even if life is hard, or my sin is overwhelming - that I will be able to turn myself back to the truth and believe.
Ahh - flesh is so annoying, frustrating, so infuriating! How I long for the day when heaven will be my home!
This summer I've been reading a book by R.C. Sproul called Willing to Believe. It explores the origins of faith by asking the question - if it is impossible to please God unless we have faith, then where does that faith come from? Is it given to us from God? Or is it something that we have a hand in through some sort of effort? Enoch, Abraham, and all the saints of old (and new for that matter) who were/are approved by God because of their faith, received that faith as a gift. God creates what He commands. All this to say that I am glad that you are ASKING for faith and any "turning yourself back to the truth" will also be God initiated. If it depended on you or me then we should lose heart, but it doesn't. It depends on the One who promised to complete the good work that He started. And He is faithful.
ReplyDeleteYes praise God that He is faithful - always - even when I waver. But what I always wonder is - what is my part to play in 'working out my salvation with fear and trembling'? I know God is the Giver, but i must also be willing to receive, to be open, to recognize where I have strayed and turn back to the truth - He will not force me - I must be willing. I know the mix of will and sovereignty are in there and that discussion is always confusing...so I tend to speak as I feel in the moment and let the truth come naturally as I receive it, regardless (that word seems strong but can't come up with another) of what I know the Word says. Not because I am avoiding it, but because it hasn't necessarily penetrated my heart. If it sets you at ease at all - I have been praying for more faith for many months now and God is full of love and grace and is creating it in me - and I am grateful!
ReplyDeleteI had a friend recently tell me the problem was in the "letting." She likened it to going to the foot doctor. The doc was trying to place her feet into molds to make inserts and she was trying to help him out by moving her foot into the molds the way she thought she should. He had to scold her several times saying, "No, let me do it...let ME do it." God is very willing, but we are not very good at letting Him do what He needs to do.
ReplyDeleteI really like Romans 4 in the Message Bible...
What we read in Scripture is, "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own." If you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift.
And it's said another way in Romans 10...
It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!"
Beautifully put, Paul!
Yes, we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, but I think this requires more focus on Christ and less on ourselves - looking to Him - asking Him what He is doing - letting Him be in charge - letting Him speak or be silent and accepting that instead of demanding what we want - agreeing with Him about sin and then not focusing on it but returning our attention to Him - reading about Him - worshipping Him - praying and fasting as a means of cultivating a hunger for Him. All of those things do require action on my part; however it's more of a re-action to God's initiative and less of me figuring out, "How I'm going to get my myself closer to God? What can I do to make this work the way I want it?"
By the way - in case you're wondering, I am simply dialoging with you Aimee, I'm not at all implying that you don't believe these things or do them:)
I definitely agree the problem is in the 'letting'. I am trying to 'let' God do HIs work in me, and I am way too often in the way.
ReplyDeleteLearning that 'letting' is what I think I am trying to do. I have heard many people say things like 'find where God is working and go along with Him' or even the verse 'draw near to God and He will draw near to you.' What does that drawing near feel like, look like? How do we discern God's work, How do we walk in the Spirit? Even as I have read Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach and 'listened in' on their thoughts on drawing near...wondering about their focus and learning that process of how they let themselves go. My desire is to learn how to turn my thoughts to Him, my mind over to Him, learn the 'letting'. I like that part in Romans 4 above - "Abraham entered into what God was doing for Him, and that was the turning point." I guess I am trying to learn the 'how' of all of that.
I certainly have lost focus and have taken my eyes off of Him and placed them on myself - evidence to that fact is all over my blog...as I learn that 'letting'.
Yes, me too. To quote an Adele song, "My hands were strong, but my knees were far to weak." I need to learn how to stop trying to work for God, to be useful to Him, and learn to let Him work for me. It was a timely word from my friend and an illustration that I could understand. It's funny how a passing comment from someone on the journey can really diagnose what is going on spiritually...
ReplyDeleteGlad to see so many of us are on the same path...it makes for good encouragement! See...we "talked" even though we missed our coffee appointment:)