Take Away Faith

Childlike Faith

Our youngest, Greg, sits on the deck, petting our cat, and said to me, “Mommy, I am going to pray that Sebastian has babies.” “Greg, he can’t have babies. He’s a boy.” “That’s ok. I’m going to pray, anyway.”  My heart went out to him; four-year-olds don’t understand. I said, “Ok.”

 I would try to prepare him for “reality,” later, but for now, he had faith. I prayed he would forget about his prayer as the days went by.

Living just out of town, from time to time, we ended up with strays, and with five kids, at least three of them thought it was a good idea to keep all of them. One day this homeless cat showed up. We fed her, and yes, SHE had a litter of kittens soon after her arrival. Greg was so happy! “God answered my prayers, Mommy.” I looked toward heaven, and all I could say was, “God, that wasn’t funny!” In my spirit, I felt a smile coming down. I smiled back, “Yes, He did, Greg. That’s wonderful.”

Greg just believed because he didn’t know any better, no doubt; and it worked! I had faith with doubt, Faith, without a doubt, is powerful.

I have a cute cartoon clipping of Dennis the Menace. It pictures his parents sitting in the front room, Dennis dressed in his pajamas, and holding his teddy bear is peeking around the corner and saying, “I’m going to say my prayers now. Does anybody need anything?”  

There is a saying, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it!” We need that sort of faith. If we take God’s word, believe it, and are obedient to it, we could remove mountains and take down giants.

Children seem to have an uncomplicated faith that’s instinctive: Their sincerity, trust, and ingenuousness are precious to the Lord. We leave so much behind when we become adults. Trusting, pure faith is one.

Get in touch with your inner child.

Matthew 18:1-14 KJV
“At the same time, the disciples came unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?  And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And who shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.”

“Never turn God’s facts into hopes or prayers, but simply use them as realities, and you will find them as powerful as you believe them.”  Predendary H.W. Webb Peploe, who lived in the late 1800s.

I like that!

The takeaway: Pray in faith, believing. God may not answer your prayer the way you expect, but He will answer it in His way.

Storm Insurance

We all know and love Peter. We can easily identify with him because he is so human.
 
One of my favorite stories about Peter is when he walks on water amidst a raging storm. 
Matthew 14:22-33
 
The disciples were out in the boat on the Sea of Galilee when a storm came up. It was worse than they had ever seen when suddenly they encountered something more fearful than the storm.
The disciples looked out from the boat, and they saw a man walking on the water.
Now, common sense tells them, this isn’t right! It must be a ghost.
 Not only did they have to deal with a death-defying storm, but a ghost?
  
Fear isn’t always bad, sometimes it’s a reasonable reaction and especially in this case.
 
Jesus hears them and calls out, (I’m paraphrasing here), “Cheer up, guys, It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”
 
Now Peter is a smart guy, he calls back, “Lord if it’s You, command me to come to you.   Peter’s focus wasn’t on the storm, it was on Jesus.
 
Jesus said, “Come.”
 
Peter does it.
 
Once out of the boat, his eyes went from Jesus to the storm. His focus changes and panic hits.
 
Reality sinks in; and so does Peter! Into hurling waters, he yells out, “Lord, save me!”
Jesus reaches down and pulls him out of the water and said to him, “O ye of little faith, why did you doubt?”
 
They get into the boat, and the winds stop. All the men in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly, You are the Son of God.”
 
Like Peter, when my focus becomes my storm and not Jesus, I go down pretty fast.
 
We can’t deny the reality of a storm, but it need not be our focus.
 
When I stare at the clock on the wall, I’m still aware of the surroundings in my peripheral vision.
 
The other things don’t go away just because my focus isn’t on them, but they become fuzzy by comparison because they aren’t my focus; they are secondary.
 
It’s Jesus in the storm that changes everything.
 
A storm can cause fear, destruction, and loss, but it passes. However, it can bring a blessing, perhaps a fresh beginning, or best of all, greater faith.
 
Whenever I read about the disciples, I realize how human they were. Fear, doubt, and disappointments were all part of their walk with the Lord. Just like mine. Yet, the more they knew Him, the greater their love and faith in Him became.
 
More than once I have heard that small still voice that whispers to my heart, say “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”, just after Jesus has had to reach down and pull me up again.
 
Our world feels like it’s upside down and is unlike anything we’ve known before, and it changes every day. The spirit of fear weaves its way into the hearts and minds of people because we can’t control our circumstances, and we don’t know what to expect next. Every night on the news media seems to give us something new to worry about. Fear for free. No, thanks. 
 
But even in this storm, no matter what happens, we have a Savior that is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrew 13:8.
 
He promised us, He would never leave us or forsake us.  
 
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalms 46:1.
 
We “TAKE” refuge, that’s our part. 
 

water

The takeaway: God is a very “PRESENT HELP IN trouble.” He’s already there.
 

Once Upon a Time

The “Once upon a time…” story will take a while to tell if told right.

There will be character re-enactments, vocal inflections, and lots of drama. You need all that so you can be in-the-moment. That’s what makes it a good story exciting.

My grandmother told me stories that started just like that; remember the Three Little Pigs and Red Riding Hood, the classics. Dull by today’s standards, however, that’s when my imagination came alive, and I was in the middle of the adventure, no matter how many times I heard the story.

Imaginations are wonderful. A child’s imagination can make talking animals believable, and scary. (“I’ll huff and I’ll puff and blow your house down!”)

Our story could start like that; “Once upon a time…”, but it started even bigger; “In the beginning God…” Now, that goes back a lot farther than ‘once upon a time’, and better yet, God is in this story!

Want some real adventure stories?  Open your Bible.  It’s full of real people, real bad guys, and sometimes not such happy endings.

Let’s put our imaginations to work.

Put yourself in Daniel’s shoes.

Here’s Daniel, kidnapped as a teenager and taken to Babylon.  Faithful to the God of Israel and lived his faith openly.  He’d proved himself loyal to the king, and the king loved Daniel.

Daniels’ enemies had tricked the king into making a decree that if anyone prayed to any god or human except the king would go to the lions’ den.   

When he heard the news, Daniel went home, opened his window, got on his knees, and prayed as he always had before.

Daniel was about eighty years old and his faith was unshakable.

Daniel’s enemies spied on him and went back to the king and reported what they saw.  The king was distressed, and he tried to save Daniel, not even the king could change the decree.  The king was helpless.  (Daniel 6:4)

At sundown, they took Daniel to the lions.  King Darius said to Daniel, “Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”

The king didn’t sleep that night and as soon as it was dawn, he rushed to the lions’ den and called out for Daniel, “Daniel, servant  of the living God, has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the lions?”

Daniel called back, “O King, God sent His angels to shut the lions’ mouths.”

The king wrote a letter that commanded everybody to worship the living God.  He also restored Daniel to honor and leadership he had before.  (Daniel chapter 6:25-28)

Wow! That’s the power and influence of faith like Daniels.

Maybe David, full of faith and unafraid as you bend down to choose the stones that will take down Goliath.   A teenager- unafraid of a giant.

David told Goliath,” You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty,… whom you have defiled. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.” And that’s exactly what happened. (How’s that for faith and purpose?)

He was certainly skilled at being a shepherd. A crack shot with a sling, he guarded the sheep and defending them from wild animals.    However, it wasn’t his confidence in his ability, but in God.

David’s faith in the Lord was from the experience of God’s grace and mercy in his life.

David wrote in Psalm 21:13 “Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength; we will sing and praise your might.”

Now, imagine you are looking through the eyes of Mary, Jesus’ mother.

The grief at seeing your son, God’s only Son, treated so cruelly and suffering so deeply; and now there He is hanging on that cross.

We will never know the extent of the pain, grief, and confusion at the foot of the cross that day.

You know Whose He is.  Jesus had a purpose, a mission for His coming, God the Father ordained it, but who knew it would be like this.

As a mother, it’s too hard to take in.

I imagine the memories, the joy, and promise, and all taken in trusting faith without understanding what it all meant.

I marvel at the faith, the sacrifice, and, too, the strength of their courage.

And even in this, it has a happy ending.

It was a fulfillment of His love, forgiveness, and sacrifice for each of us if we have received Him.  All is forgiven.  A new life in Christ.  A new forever family and eternity with Him.

Maybe if our imaginations were as vivid as when we were children, perhaps our amazement would be greater still.

“In the beginning God…”   Genius 1:1

“It is finished.”  John 19:30

It’s all about Jesus… and He made it all about us when He died for us.   

The takeaway:  How will your story read?

Sandi Patti sings, “Was it a Morning Like this?”
Listen to it on YouTube.
T.