Would you say that God is able to do anything? Yes! I would say that too. However, there are plenty of examples from my life where the way God was working was not met with joy in my heart. I have sometimes acted like if I I believe and pray, then those are the right puzzle pieces needed to get God to act. More often than not I will say something like, “God I believe you can do this, okay now do it.” And then when it doesn’t happen how I see it happening, I wonder why God is ignoring my prayer. I prayed. I said I believed, now where is my answer?
God I know you are there, even when I can't see you.
This is really not faith, though, is it? Faith takes a different approach than that. Faith looks at God as able to do whatever it is I am asking Him no matter what He decides to do.
My faith is not contingent upon God acting at the exact moment I feel like I need it, but simply on the fact that He is God.
The book of Hebrews says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Why? Because faith is where salvation comes. We don’t earn it. We don’t deserve it. We don’t convince God to accept our measly little attempts at holiness. We receive it by faith, believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins and by that act paid for the penalty of them. This is completely in the hands of God, not on us. And so when things don’t appear to be working out or God appears to be distant, we go back to what the Word says and we remember what He has done. He has not forgotten you; He remembered you even when you had no thought of Him!
Today many believers are living with crippled faith, limping through life because they have lost touch with Jesus Christ, who is the Word! It does us no good to take the complex issues of life and say some of our Christian clichés because we are made for so much more than to throw a few repeated phrases at our problems. If you open the Word you start to see over and over again that there is life and power in Christ. There is faith in suffering and grace in messy families. In the Word you see that God has always done what He said He would do and that there is hope to be found in relationship with Jesus Christ. You need to get yourself into the Word of God. Faith is not driven by emotions. Faith is driven by truth. God has been faithful to you and will continue to be faithful, but leave the details to Him!
Are you struggling today? Is your faith waning a bit? Invite Jesus Christ into your situations and ask Him for faith to keep walking in the circumstnaces of your life. He has not lost sight of you!
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For more on this topic, check out our sermon page and the sermon titled "Living Legacy"
Looking for a local church to be a part of? You are welcome to join us for worship Sundays at 10 a.m. in Battle Lake, MN.