Living by Faith
When you enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, you trust, in faith, that He will take your sins and forgive them. When you commit your entire life to serving God, in faith, you trust that He will bless you ministry and protect you from the “slings and arrows” of the Evil One. And as you grow in relationship to Christ, in faith, you trust that He will protect you and provide for you.
In our modern day, culturally relevant, post Acts 2 world, taking a step of faith means you give (slightly) over and above what gave to the church last year. You sacrifice, a little, more than the year before. You go on a mission trip that may, or may not, provide you with a room that has running water. In today’s culture, taking a step of “faith” is nothing more than surviving a little discomfort or endure a little financial tightness. Truth be told, we could ALL stand to spend more time investing in people who society has forgotten and we could spend a lot less on junk than we do.
But when God decides to really test your faith, and you could, literally, lose everything, how would you react?
I have been wrestling with this for some time now. I have other friends who are struggling with the same type of issues, and I join the millions of other Americans who are on the verge of losing their house. I have been out of work for over 3 months, and have not received any pay for an additional 2, all in all, I am about 5 months behind…on EVERYTHING! Still, I have not missed a meal or gone with an essential. God has provided.
But, I tell myself, those are the “little” things. What about my house…where will I live? Where will I work? Where can I get a job and make money? If all I can do is “do ministry”, if that is where most of my training lies, what do I do when I don’t get another church job? The job market is in the tank…I can’t even get hired by Burger King. Where is God in the “big” stuff?
He is still here. he has never left. Matthew 28:20, Jesus tells us (and me), “I am with you, even until the end of time.” We must live by faith. Faith in things unseen. Faith that God will provide in HIS time, HIS way. I know that there have been other ministers who have suffered MUCH more than me, lost more than I have. I am desperately trying to find God in everything. Asking God to provide and give me wisdom. I need God to save me. He has already saved my soul, everything else is gravy.
Living in faith is allowing God to permeate your very soul. It’s finding contentment with WHATEVER comes your way. The human side of me is scared that God will say, “You are going to lose your home.” The spiritual side of me says, “I will follow you no matter what the cost.” And I feel I am being tested. But every day, I take the one steps that I feel God wants me to take. Will a job come? A new ministry opportunity? Will I keep the house, of lose it? Only God knows. I do know that Sarah and I have grown closer over the last few months. We fight a little less. We pray together more. We surrendered to God everything. The faith living will be tested even more when we pass through this storm and things are back to “normal”.
But for this time – this NOW – I KNOW that I am taking one step at a time, seeking God at every step and asking Him to guide me. I am giving everything over to Him, by faith. I am calm and not going crazy, in faith. I believe that God is going to see us through this time, in faith. I am more excited that I ever have been, and in faith, I look forward to the next day with GREAT anticipation as to what God is going to do. I am moving forward with the dream that God has given me about Acts 2, in faith. And I have no idea if that dream will succeed or fail. Either way, I am giving over to God everything that I am, in faith.
