Faith

If you have faith as a mustard seed …

nothing will be impossible for you.

Matthew 17:20



Trust God

Consider the lilies of the field,

How they grow:

They neither toil nor spin …

Now if God so clothes the grass of the field …

Will He not much more clothe you …?

Matthew

When Creation Speaks ...

Faith comes by hearing,

And hearing by the word of God

Romans 10:17

For since the creation of the world

His invisible attributes are clearly seen,

being understood by the things that are made …

so that they are without excuse

Romans 1:20

But without faith it is impossible to please Him,

for He who comes to God must believe that He is,

and that He is a rewarder of those

who diligently seek Him

Heb 11:6



The Father of Faith

Now the Lord said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land I will show you …”

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him.

Genesis 12:1-4

Abram, who was later re-named “Abraham,” is The Father of Faith. He grew up in the cityscapes of Mesopotamia, but eventually became a pilgrim-nomad, journeying through the land which God sent him to. He moved from place to place as God directed, leaving us a legacy of obedience, righteousness, journeying in God and walking with God in friendship.

God spoke richly into Abraham’s life, responding to the trusting quality of his heart. It takes courage of conviction and moral guts to obey God, so Abraham actually had a lot of spiritual spunk. He left the land he knew, to dwell where he had never dwelt before … and there he discovered new levels of knowing God. He produced a son when his productivity had already dried up, he won mighty battles against mighty kings, he put his son on an altar to sacrifice him (please do not attempt this at home) and moved God to decorate his life with special promises and eternal covenants.

One encounter between Abraham and God which ever speaks to me was at that juncture when Abraham parted ways with his nephew, Lot. Lot grabbed what seemed (emphasis on “seemed”) to be the best land and decided to settle in Sodom and Gomorrah. After Lot had departed, God spoke to Abraham and told him to lift up his eyes and look all around him – north, south, east and west – and promised him that whatever he saw would be his. In other words, God was telling him, “Be encouraged, my son. Don’t look down in despondency or disappointment. I am with you, and as long as you journey in me the possibilities are as limitless as I am vast. What you can feel, taste, touch are but illusions. The landscapes within Me are gardens, groves, savannahs teeming with game, springs fountaining with life. Lot seems to have left you little, life seems to have narrowed its options, but there is a higher reality. Walk the length and breadth of it. Trust that what I say is true and it shall be yours” … and that is exactly what Abraham did … because when God spoke, he drank it all in, like bees honing in on honey. For Abraham, personal crisis was an opportunity to see how God would work things out. It was never a question of if but rather a matter of when and how.

Faith produces possibilities in God through a simple process. God speaks, I choose to believe what He says and prove it by my obedience. It worked for Abraham, so it can work for us. Faith is about child-like trust, friction-free obedience and the by-product God is always after … righteousness. Abraham left his home and his family or what was familiar to him to discover new experiences in God. He settled into a life of spiritual seeking, he dwelled in doing what delighted God and he camped where God’s companionship would fill his tents. Faith was Abraham’s rainbow bridge that took him from one promise in God to another.

The Hall of Faith

This world tends to reward things like gifting, good looks, glitter and glamour. The Lord, on the other hand, prizes pursuit, pilgrimage and ponderousness in the things of God. So, while modern societies have set up Halls of Fame, we find that the Bible has its own ‘Hall of Faith’ which is displayed in Hebrews 11. When we study it, we realize that faith and good works go hand in hand. People produced favourable outcomes, in partnership with God, through faith. Here are some of my personal faith favourites … by faith:

• Enoch walked on and on and on in God


• Enoch was whisked away by God


• Abraham set out journeying in God


• Abraham looked for an eternal city


• Jacob blessed his sons on his deathbed


• Joseph spread like a fruitful vine


• Joshua and Caleb stood in strength


• Ruth crafted a beautiful future


• David walloped Goliath


• David worshipped in spirit and truth


• Abigail found favour with David


• Daniel opened his windows and prayed


• Weakness was turned to strength


• Saints found dignity even when destitute


• Many have obtained God’s approval


• We can find friendship with God

The Monarch

The Monarch

God designed me from His palette rich

And smiling said, “It’s good!”

“But what’s so good,” I asked the Lord,

“About being a tiny egg?

How I wish I could fly instead!”

 

Just trust me, said my King.

Just trust me.

Soon I broke out from my shell -

A worm-like little thing;

But I trusted God who cared for me.

When he counseled me once again,

In faith, I believed my Friend.

 

Just trust me, said my King.

Just trust me.

I morphed into a caterpillar;

Green and plump and bright;

I loved the skin he painted me in.

I said, “Thanks God, this is great!”

But He gently said, “No, wait.”

 

Trust me, said my King.

Just trust me.

 

I gobbled milkweed every day -

A poison to my foes.

They never dared to munch on me,

For my diet was to make God pleased.

 

I trust you, my King.

I trust you.

 

He hemmed me into green and gold,

Then a clear protective skin.

Still the cocoon made me doubt,

God said, “Fear not! Soon you’ll see

Who you were always meant to be.”

Trust me, said my King.

Just trust me.

 

It was a lonely time in there!

And wow, I sure waited long.

Yet I kept my eyes on Him.

My soul became a complex maze.

Even in sorrow I sang His praise.

Fear not, said my King.

Your trust is a precious thing.

Finally, the day arrived

When God’s promise did come true.

I spread open new bright wings;

Black, orange and speckled white;

Now I’m a monarch regal in flight.

 

Because I trusted my kind King

He’s made me more than I ever dreamed.

At every stage he fashioned me

As only His genius could.

“You see,” He said, “It’s good!”

My special child,

You can always trust me!

 

©NnekaEdwards2008



The Heart of a Child

Trusting God is like leaping into His arms and knowing He will surely catch you. Resting in God is knowing that when He kisses your boo-boos they will feel better and your heart will be healed. Chasing God is like a game of hide-and-seek with Daddy. You know He’ll make sure you find Him, and when you do, He’ll scoop you up into the biggest, gentlest hug. Loving God is like dipping into a cookie jar full of wonderful surprise flavours. Sharing with God is like whispering your closest secrets to your best friend and then finding that He loves you all the more. Asking God questions is like lying on the grass on a starry night and asking Daddy why stars glow and which one you are. Feeling that God is near is like a fuzzy blanket pulled up to my nose as moonbeams glow through my window. Delighting in God is like finding perfect seashells as waves wash my toes. I lovingly craft them into wind chimes that tell stories that sing. Tasting God’s goodness is like licking a rainbow lollipop and finding that there is nothing sweeter. Trusting God is easy as blowing dandelions across the breeze.

Joie Journal: I Trust You God

Dear Journal:

Every morning the sun rises and every evening it sets. Every dawn is beautiful and every sunset is magic. The flowers are robed and the birds find feasting and God ever cares for these. The earth finds its place and there it stays as it turns ever faithfully; and every night the stars twinkle and the moon sprinkles its glow. Seasons come and time moves in cycles, and the waves ebb and flow. So in this world of chaos, where so much is so wrong, there is much that speaks and tells the tale that God has been here all along. He cares, He is kind, He is thoughtful, He designs. I trust Him with my life.

Every time I hear His voice my heart feels a glow. It is life, it is wine, it is honey, it is joy, and that is how I know; that He is good and I can trust Him even when things are not quite clear. I know that if I go where He says that I should, in the end I will find Him there. He does what he says and He says what he means and I find that He is true. So I incline my ear and listen well to hear what I should do.

I have found in life that when I follow God that dawns get sweeter and sweeter. That the path of the righteous is glory to glory and that the gold of honey is the Speaker. I have walked through good and I have walked through pain, through deep and darkest night, but at the end of the day as I follow God, He makes every wrong so right. He makes things right, He gives me sight, He brings delight. And so I find I sing. And as my heart sees every pattern kept, I trust more and more in Him.

Trusting God is special. It is as easy as blowing dandelions on the wind. As I live by faith, I know that God is taking me somewhere perfectly good.

Building Up My Faith

O God, I thank you. In the midst of dark days and much sorrow in the earth, I praise you. I lift up my hands to you to say that I trust you. I am grateful to you for your loving-kindness and shepherd concern. I am just a witless sheep, so I follow you. Teach me the sound of your voice for you say that your sheep know your voice and follow you. Though desert landscapes are stretching across the planet, I know that you are leading me to green pastures – the pastures of your Word, places where your speaking is rich, and where you pour life into my very being. I come before You God to say that I cast myself upon you. I will not trust my own ideas, or my own strength or intelligence. I trust in you completely. Whatever you say, I set my heart to do. Guide my steps, O God. Make them sure like hinds feet, like gazelles graceful as the arch of your bow. I understand that life is a journey and that, like my father Abraham, I am only to settle in the fact that there is no settling. I am eager to discover who You are and who You have called me to be. So, as I journey through life and journey through times of little and times of plenty, times of peace and times of battle, as I journey through your times and seasons, I am looking for a dwelling place … and that dwelling place is You. I have set my heart on pilgrimage, and like my father, Abraham, I am seeking a city whose architect and builder is God. So God, make my heart soft towards you. Give me a heart that is quick to obey. Let me be one who would bring you delight. Fill my heart with faith, cause me to trust you and let my life be full of tales of your goodness.