We are called to live by faith. Sometimes faith steps are easy. They are not always daunting. There are other times when those steps are harder like when the offering plate goes by and you choose whether to tithe or not, knowing how long it is to payday again.
Living by faith means different things to different people at different stages of life. To the widower or widow they must trust God to forge ahead in life without their soul mate. To the one living in chronic pain faith means not losing hope though the healing has not come and the pain does not subside.
For the farmer and rancher faith means trusting God in the drought as well as in the floods and every season in between. For the parent faith means trusting God in raising children and the way they will turn out in the long run.
For the pastor faith is trusting God to save the lost and to mature the saved as well as to keep the church alive and vibrant empowered by the Spirit of God. For the missionary there is the trust for provision and for breakthrough on hard foreign soil.
Faith for the retired couple on a fixed income can mean trusting God for His provision to the end of their days.
Faith in a spiritually barren wilderness can mean trusting God to send help. For distressed and weary sheep it can mean trusting God to send a shepherd for the sheep.
God is always calling His people to take faith steps. Some are smaller and some are larger. That is not the point. Trusting God with each step and obeying is the point.
[II Cor 5:7] [Heb 11:6] There is no getting around those verses. We are called to live by faith. How often do we work to avoid living by faith. We seek life with built in comforts, securities, and with a well planned outcome. Then we ask God to bless those plans. That is not faith.
Faith is seeking God for what He is doing or wants to do. Faith is hearing a clear call from Him and trusting by taking steps of obedience. Faith is stepping out of the boat while the storm rages just because Jesus calls us to. Faith is praying fervently and believing God for the impossible even when it looks hopeless. Faith is believing God for His desired outcome no matter how things look.
Faith is believing God wills certain unseen things to become reality. Faith is asking God for HIs provision even when there seems no way provision can be made.
Faith is believing God's word more than what your eyes see in front of us. Faith is truly trusting God in life's darkness and life's harshness. Faith is our only hope. Faith is not a feeling. It is a conviction. A deep seated conviction that God will come through.
Faith is strengthened when we obey but faith is weakened when we make excuses and rationalize disobedience. Weak faith produces weak praying. Weak praying produces weak Christians. Weak Christians produce and powerless impotent churches. Impotent churches lead to gross immorality in a community and a nation and eventually the judgment of God.
May we trust God for greater faith. May we live to exercise that faith. May the result of our faith bring greater glory to God.
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