Faith, Hope, and With

I have said it before, and I will say it again, "Where you are in life is where you are in Scripture."  I love how God knows our hearts and minds, our thoughts and feelings.  He knows our emotions, our fears, our doubts, our desires better than we know these things about ourselves.  And as we spend time with Him, He speaks to us about the thoughts running through our heads, the emotions swirling in our hearts.  He calms our fears, quiets our doubts, and assures us that as we seek earnestly after Him all our desires will be fulfilled, even beyond what we had ever dared to imagine!  Not that God simply showers us with "stuff," but rather fills us a far better gift -- HIMSELF.  For as we spend more and more time with God and come to want Him above all else, our greatest desire is to know Him, to be with Him.  Like David, our hearts begin to be in tune with God.  We come to delight in God Himself, not what He can give us or do for us.

As I have been learning what living out my faith truly means, God has been showing me His faithfulness to answer prayer, to come through for me when I take Him at His Word.  When I put everything on the line, surrender everything to Him, and take that giant leap, He is there to catch me, every. single. time.  I have been reading the book With by Skye Jethani.  I started it a long time ago but haven't had time (or made time) to pick it up again, until this weekend.  Lawrence and Coralyn are gone deer hunting, so it's just Kellah and me here at home.  Funny how having one less child provides you with more "free" time in two days than you've had in the past three years :)  Anyway, after Kellah has gone to bed at 8 pm, I have been reading.  And of course, what Jethani is talking about fits exactly with what is happening in our lives as we have been praying about moving and now are getting ready to do just that in a few short weeks!

Jethani uses an illustration from Henri Nouwen to describe faith.  Nouwen attended a performance of the Flying Rodleighs, a trapeze troupe from South Africa.  The acrobats did more than entertain him; they taught him about theology, as they exemplified faith in action.  As Nouwen watched the trapeze artists flying through the air, he was mesmorized by their daring feats.  Then, he turned his attention from the flyer to the catcher, and realized who the real star of the show actually was.  Not the flyer, but the catcher.  Without the catcher, the show could not happen.  Nouwen wrote, "While everyone is focused on the flyer's arial maneuvers, they sometimes fail to see that the maneuvers are only possible because the flyer fully trusts that he will be caught.  Everything depends on the catcher."

Nouwen took what he learned at the trapeze performance and applied it to his relationship with God.  Jethani encourages us to do the same.  He explains, "Faith is the opposite of seeking control.  It is surrendering control.  It embraces the truth that control is an illusion -- we never had it and we never will.  Rather than trying to overcome our fears by seeking more control, the solution offered by 'life WITH God' is precisely the opposite -- we overcome fear by surrendering control.  But surrender is only possible if we have total assurance that we are safe.  We must be convinced that if we let go we will be caught.  This assurance only comes when we trust that our heavenly Father desires to be WITH us and will not let us fall."

As I contemplate faith and what it looks like in my daily life, I keep coming across the fact that faith requires trust.  Trust is founded in the confidence that someone will come through for you, that you can fully rely on them, no matter the situation.  This confidence is possible only when you know someone personally, closely, deeply, intimately.  And that type of relationship happens when you spend time -- lots of time -- with someone, day after day after day after day.  Jethani agrees, "It is the experiential knowledge of God's love -- His unyielding goodness toward us -- that delivers us from fear and gives us the courage to surrender to Him.  Real faith, real surrender is only possible in the 'life WITH God' posture.  When we live with God, when we are united with Him and experience His goodness and love, fear loses its grip on our souls.  With promises of God's boundless love, 'life WITH God' breaks the endless cycle of fear and striving for control.  When we live in rich communion with God, we are set free to fly, knowing that the Catcher will never let us fall."

I read all of this Friday evening and then some more on Saturday morning during Kellah's nap.  Then, I go to church Saturday evening and hear Pastor Michael talk about how God wants us to spend time with Him, to invite Him into every part of our day, to respond to His invitation to abide in His presence at all times, no matter what we may be doing.  Think God is trying to tell me something...

This morning I read in my Bible James chapter 4.  The heading, "Drawing Close to God."  Verse 8 affirmed what I have been reading and hearing, "Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you."  I go on and see in verse 10, "When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on Him, He will lift you up and give you honor."  Sounds like surrender to me.  Goes right along with what Jethani and Nouwen were describing when they spoke of living by faith.

There's that faith word again.  Another concept that I have discovered goes hand in hand with faith (in addition to trust) is hope.  Back in high school, my Bible teacher Mr. Bob Clark defined faith/hope as "confident expectation."  Ironically enough, the Daily Verse that I get on my phone every morning went right along with that idea.  Hebrews 11:1, "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 see."  Coincidence?  I think not.

A few verses later in Hebrews, the author has more to say about faith, "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."  Again faith and communion with God -- desiring Him above all else, pursuing Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength -- cannot be separated.

This past week, I have definitely seen God bless my socks off as we stepped out in faith and put our house on the market in response to His "call" for us to move into the Kellybrook area and serve Him as "missionaries" in that community.  We didn't know how things would play out.  We didn't have control over anything: getting showings, people liking the house, someone making an offer on the house, the house we like still being available, the owners of that house accepting our offer.  Everything was in God's hands.  And of course, that is the best place to be.  So, we prayed.  We waited.  We trusted God would do His thing.

Boy, did He!

In just FOUR days, our house was sold. In SIX days, we had made an offer on the house we wanted and reached an agreement with the owners (who just so happen to be a former student's family!).  Now, we wait for inspections.  Once more, I must believe that God will work everything out.  I am a bit worried, but I must not give into that fear.  I have to remember to replace my fear with faith, to remain confident that God is in control, that He will certainly "finish this good work that He has begun."

I still have much to learn about faith, trust, and hope.  As the apostle Paul said of himself, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things o that I have already reached perfection!  But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all the Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.  No dear, brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."

With that verse in mind, I flip back in my Bible once more to the book of Hebrews.  "Let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish."  Yet again, I see that faith depends on my relationship with Jesus, on my consistency in spending time with Him, in abiding in His presence no matter what is going on around me.  He is my focus, the apple of my eye.  He is what I want and long for more than anything else.

Psalm 42: 1-2,5, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.  I thirst for God, the living God.  When can I come and stand before Him?  I will put my hope in God!  I will praise Him again -- my Savior and my God!"

Psalm 63:1-8

"O God, You are my God;

I earnestly search for You.

My soul thirsts for You;

my whole body longs for You

in this parched and weary land

where there is no water.

I have seen You in Your sanctuary

and gazed upon Your power and glory.

Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself;

how I praise You!

I will honor You as long as I live,

lifting up my hand to You in prayer.

You satisfy me more than the richest of foods.

I will praise You with songs of joy.

I lie awake thinking of You,

meditating on You through the night.

I think how much You have helped me;

I sing for joy in the shadow of Your protecting wings.

I follow close behind You;

Your strong right hand holds me securely."

This whole living by faith thing is extremely scary, but also super exhilarating and deeply satisfying.  I am coming to realize how truly rewarding spending time with God is, not just for five minutes in the morning, but all day long.  I have learned from others and been encouraged by those who dare to put God first and live boldly and passionately for Him, even when it doesn't humanly make sense.  I hope and pray that our story does the same for you.  Together, may we forsake all else and follow hard after our Jesus.  As a result, may countless others turn their eyes toward our awesome Savior and join us in praising Him,.

Psalm 64:10, 9, 

"The godly will rejoice in the Lord and find shelter in Him.  

And those who do what is right will praise Him.  

Then everyone will stand in awe, 

proclaiming the mighty acts of God, 

realizing all the amazing things He does."