Yesterday I was reading a friends blog and she stated the following:
“I feel like I’ve been bombarded with the message that victory is ours for the taking, if we just reach out in faith and grab it. God will provide whatever you need, if you can just “faith” your way to receiving it.”
She went on to relay what she felt victory as a Christian really means. We have all struggled with this thought at some point in our lives. A problem jumps up and you hear that little whisper “well if you just had enough faith it would all go away”. But what if faith is more than that?
There are many theologians out there who can argue for the faith movement and against it, and I am not one of them. However, time and time again I have seen the truth of it in my life. Bad things have happened to me, around me and even to those I do not know. Yet, I have seen little evidence that willing yourself to faith has very little impact on the outcome.
Now let me explain before you get all riled up! When my parents first divorced I still had faith in God and believed He could bring them back together. But I watched as their choices took them away from each other, causing my trust in God to disappear, but my faith was still intact . “Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” Hebrews 11:1. As I walked the next 15 years, I had faith that God was real. However, I choose to not trust Him and ended up doing things that harmed myself and others around me. Even people who had faith in a big God and trusted His goodness were harmed by my actions. I have many examples of this, but they really don’t matter. The point I am trying to make is how does faith in God and His promises get reconciled in a fallen world? For me, my definition of God and faith both need to change.
In the bible there are multiple examples of bad things happening to good people and God never explains why. Job was credited as a man of great faith, yet God let him be destroyed. Abraham as well, but God let him impregnate his servant. Why? Maybe because our faith isn’t about us or what God can give us, but more about His glory and who He is.
I am writing this as I face getting on a plane to India by myself. I am terrified, want to bury my head in the sand, cry for hours, not get on that plane, run away and end up in the belly of a whale. But none of this changes my “faith” in who God is.
He is a big God and I believe and trust that He IS GOOD, regardless of the outcome. There are many scary things that could happen (Daniel had to walk into a den of lions, 3 men had to walk into a fiery furnace, Esther had to walk into the court of the king), but I choose to trust God’s path for my life. Regardless of where it may take me.
Over and over people tell me that I am brave for doing this and I cringe. I am not brave, my journey is no different than yours, and my faith is no greater than yours. It is all about choices, we all make them every day. Some that matter in the big scheme of things and some that really don’t. But it is always a choice…trust that God is good, regardless of what is on the other side of that scary black fog He is telling you to walk into, and trust that His goodness does not change. EVER.
I choose to TRUST.
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