Day Twenty Five
Energetic - Ever Active
Proverbs 31:27...She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self pity) she will not eat...
What are you believing God for? What situation in your life are you trusting Him to meet...a prayer that needs answered, a healing for your body, a miracle in your finances, strength to do what He has told you to do?
In the past several years, Paul and I have been faced with some very challenging situations. While talking to my sister Debbie one day about a particular pressure coming against us, I told her that I felt like a salmon swimming against the flow of the river. If you have ever seen a program about salmon, they literally jump out of the water, forcing their bodies upstream against the pressure of the rushing water, which is moving in the opposite direction. What a cost! And that is what we do in our lives when we serve God. We go against the flow of what the world is doing and what our own flesh, desires and wills want to do. We put our trust in God and His will, learning to walk in faith, continuing to move forward in the path that He has laid out for our lives. And easy task? No. It feels just like that salmon, at times, as we move against the pressures of this world...the pressures of fear...the pressures of doubt...the pressures of wanting our own way...the pressures of compromise...the trap of sitting still because we cannot always see what is ahead in this path the Lord has us on...what a cost!
When we were living in Saginaw, Michigan, the Lord spoke a scripture to my heart. It kept echoing in my mind over and over...But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]...Hebrews 11:6. Unfortunately at the time, all I saw in that scripture was the first part and became immediately upset. You see, one of the 'challenges' I have battled in my life is that of not being good enough, no matter how hard I try. I thought that God was saying, "Hey, you do not have enough faith", even though I was doing my very best to serve Him. And it upset me for quite sometime. One evening, after talking to my sister about some different pressures and the salmon, the Lord brought Hebrews 11:6 to my mind again. I looked back and began to see a pattern of self doubt trying to trap me; that in difficulties that came against us, I always thought it was because I was not good enough, not having enough faith. It would get to the point, at times, where I would want to throw in the towel and just quit. While thinking on all of this, I realized that God had been speaking a scripture of direction, that I would need faith to walk the walk He had for me, that self doubt would undermine my faith.
Recently, while doing some reading in the book of Hebrews, I read through the 11th chapter. What an encouragement it is to us today as we read about the 'heroes of faith' and how they trusted in God. It speaks of how they were prompted by faith...Noah...Moses...Abraham...
Sarah...by faith the Red Sea parted for the Israelites, yet swallowed up the Egyptians...by faith the walls of Jericho fell. Chapter 11 gives many accounts of faith, going on to say in verses 32-34...And what shall I say further? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets...Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions...Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devouring of the sword, out of frailty and weakness, won strength and became stalwart, even might and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts. It tells us of how these men walked in faith in what God had called them to do, although some did not always see the promise realized - yet we see what was promised to them realized today. These heroes of faith were ever active in their faith of God, believing and trusting, all the while not always seeing what they hoped for with their eyes.
Chapter 12 goes on to encourage us...Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to tell the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us...Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]...Hebrews 12:1-2a.
The salmon was a wonderful object lesson for me. That night, the Lord showed me a cycle of self doubt and fear that kept me from walking in faith. That cycle became a trap, in which I would, at times, want to quit my walk in the Lord, or to just sit back and do nothing. But He also reminded me of the Word He had given as direction, if I accepted it by faith. And since that time, the self doubt tries to rise up, but I deal with it in prayer and faith, moving forward in obedience. So, I ask you again, what are you believing God for? What challenges do you need God to meet? Do you want to throw in the towel at times, sitting back and doing nothing? Are you ever active in your walk in the Lord, moving forward by faith in what He has called you to do? Let me encourage you to dig into God's Word and realize, through His Holy Spirit, that He has given us everything we need to be ever active in our faith, standing strong in Him, moving against the pressures of life that flows against us. There will be obstacles on that path we walk; we will not always be able to see clearly where we are going; we will have to trust and have faith in the Author and Finisher of our faith...Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind) be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour...Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset - rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world...and after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessings and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you...1 Peter 5:8-10. What a promise!
We are all going to deal with difficult issues in our lives...some will be testing and trials...some will be the enemy of our souls trying to lay a trap for us...some will be old cycles of behaviors. We have choices to make...we can either push through, like that salmon swimming upstream against the flow of the river, or we can move along downstream with the world, with compromise, with sitting still and doing nothing. But God, Who imparts all blessing and favor, will strengthen us, grounding us securely in Him, as we learn to walk...by faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7...For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief, respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance...
A hearts' cry...[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised. So [numberless] shall your descendants be...He did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or [when he considered] the barrenness of Sarah's [deadened] womb...No unbelief or distrust made him waiver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God...Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised...that is why his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God)...Romans 4:18-22.