Exercising our faith
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for
and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews 11 talks about those
who were obedient to God solely by faith.
who were obedient to God solely by faith.
By Faith Abel, By Faith Enoch, By Faith Noah, By faith Abraham, By faith Isaac, By faith Jacob, By faith Joseph, By Faith Moses, By faith the people passed through the red sea,
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, By faith Rahab,
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, By faith Rahab,
and the list goes on and on.
Each one obedient to what God asked of them.
A question has been racking my brain lately.
Were they obedient because they had faith?
or
did they have faith because they were obedient?
or
did they have faith because they were obedient?
I thought I needed a huge amount of faith to be obedient to God.
But I am not convinced that this is totally the way it works.
What if obedience is an exercise that increases our faith?
When I first believed that God is who He says He is,
I said, "Yes" I will follow you.
That does not mean I did not have questions or even doubts.
I am still human, fighting my flesh everyday.
My faith is small and I am still
Learning to be obedient.
My natural heart is always running away from God
and towards my wants and desires.
It is only God who can change these wants and desires.
I often wondered why it was so hard and my faith was so small.
Maybe it is because I had things out of order.
In Matthew 17:20 Jesus tells his disciples,
What?!?!
But I am not convinced that this is totally the way it works.
What if obedience is an exercise that increases our faith?
When I first believed that God is who He says He is,
I said, "Yes" I will follow you.
That does not mean I did not have questions or even doubts.
I am still human, fighting my flesh everyday.
My faith is small and I am still
Learning to be obedient.
 |
| Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet... (beginning of Psalm 119:105) |
and towards my wants and desires.
It is only God who can change these wants and desires.
I often wondered why it was so hard and my faith was so small.
Maybe it is because I had things out of order.
What if faith comes from exercise?
In Matthew 17:20 Jesus tells his disciples,
Because you have so little faith,
Truly I tell you, if your faith is as small as a mustard seed,
you can ask a mountain to move and it will move.
Nothing is impossible for you.
What?!?!
How does that work?
Well... Here are my thoughts.
(I am aware this is weird to some people)
It is not always easy in the moment,
when my muscles are burning, I am dripping in sweat, and I am trying to catch my breath, but in the end it makes me stronger.
when my muscles are burning, I am dripping in sweat, and I am trying to catch my breath, but in the end it makes me stronger.
There are exercises
that make my faith stronger.
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves
and take up their cross and follow me.
Matthew 16:24
Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him,
and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Luke 5:27-28
Luke 5:27-28
Jesus asks for an act of obedience.
Not just to say it, but to ACTUALLY follow Him.
What if the disciples had just said "Yes"
but never exercised their faith by following Him?
Would they have learned to believe and have faith in Him?
but never exercised their faith by following Him?
Would they have learned to believe and have faith in Him?
When I lace up my tennis shoes and start my workout,
I am taking the actions to exercise my physical muscles.
I do this to make my body stronger.
I am taking the actions to exercise my physical muscles.
I do this to make my body stronger.
Faith comes from hearing,
and hearing through the word of Christ.
and hearing through the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17
Why would spiritual growth be any different?
When I open up my bible, pray, and exercise obedience,
God uses it and my Faith is made stronger!
Yet he did not waver through unbelief
regarding the promise of God,
but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.
Being fully persuaded that God
had the power to do what he had promised.
Romans 4:20-21
When I jump on the treadmill,
I am taking the steps to be physically stronger.
I am taking the steps to be physically stronger.
When I open my bible, pray, and exercise obedience,
I am taking the steps to strengthen my faith muscles.
I am taking the steps to strengthen my faith muscles.
Sometimes I look at the big weights and think.
"There is no way I can lift that"
or I look at the small ones and think
"that is way too small to ever make a difference".
"That is way too big, I could never do that" or
"That thing is too small, it will never make a difference"
This is what happen when our family began our adoption process.
The task seemed too big. Our faith was too small.
Through God's word and prayer...
we were strong enough to be obedient.
There was no giant sign that told us to do it.
There was no writing on the wall.
There was just God's word in front of us teaching us and asking us to "follow him".
Reverse back 12 years to two people much younger,
a little less fashion sense, a little skinner,
curlier hair, a little more naive, madly in love,
planning out exactly what their life would look like together,
There was no writing on the wall.
There was just God's word in front of us teaching us and asking us to "follow him".
a little less fashion sense, a little skinner,
curlier hair, a little more naive, madly in love,
planning out exactly what their life would look like together,
but completely unaware of how life would actually unfold.
We talked about adoption and said "someday".
 |
| One of our Engagement pictures (2002) |
But that "someday" was when we had all our "stuff/life" together.
When WE were at a place that WE felt ready.
When WE had decided it was time.
That someday was not right now.
Doubts and fears clouded our minds.
"We can't do this...Not now...It won't work"
But something compelled us to go forward anyway.
I remember saying, "NO WAY... We can't do that"
But something kept nudging... God kept asking...
God had changed our family over the past few years.
He had changed our thoughts and actions.
He had changed our hearts.
 |
| Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path ~ Psalm 119:105 |
Through his word he has shown us who he is.
Through Prayer he had revealed himself to us.
and When we said "yes" to following him
He challenged us to live in with radical obedience to him.
Through this obedience, He increased our faith.
Through Prayer he had revealed himself to us.
and When we said "yes" to following him
He challenged us to live in with radical obedience to him.
Through this obedience, He increased our faith.
By Faith, we said "yes" to adoption.
We can say without a doubt that though this past year,
He has increased our faith in Him even more!
Praise the Lord!
Just like the disciples, one thing is guaranteed
when you exercise obedience and say "yes"
you will know the love of the Father in Heaven,
and His JOY will be in you.
Whoever has my commands and keeps them
is the one who loves me. The one who loves
me will be loved by my Father, and I too
will love them and show myself to them...Anyone
who loves me will obey my teaching.
My Father will love them, and we will come to them
and make our home with them...
John 14:21-23
If you keep my commands, you will
remain in my love...
I have told you this so that
my joy may be in you and that your joy
may be complete.
John 15:10-11
When we said "Yes" we realize there are not guarantees of
"easier" or "get your best life now,"
but what we have learned is that there is an experience of
"seeing what the Father has lavished on us
that we are children of God!"
(1 John 3:1)
The guarantee is that when exercise obedience,
when you say "yes" to Christ,
you will KNOW HIM more deeply.
This is the JOY we were made for.
This obedient Joy leads to saying "yes" again and again.
For each of us, the "Yes" will be different.
Where is God calling you to be obedient?
What will your workout look like today?
Exercise and watch your faith grow!
He has increased our faith in Him even more!
Praise the Lord!
when you exercise obedience and say "yes"
you will know the love of the Father in Heaven,
and His JOY will be in you.
Whoever has my commands and keeps them
is the one who loves me. The one who loves
me will be loved by my Father, and I too
will love them and show myself to them...Anyone
who loves me will obey my teaching.
My Father will love them, and we will come to them
and make our home with them...
John 14:21-23
If you keep my commands, you will
remain in my love...
I have told you this so that
my joy may be in you and that your joy
may be complete.
John 15:10-11
When we said "Yes" we realize there are not guarantees of
"easier" or "get your best life now,"
but what we have learned is that there is an experience of
"seeing what the Father has lavished on us
that we are children of God!"
(1 John 3:1)
The guarantee is that when exercise obedience,
when you say "yes" to Christ,
you will KNOW HIM more deeply.
This is the JOY we were made for.
For each of us, the "Yes" will be different.
Where is God calling you to be obedient?
What will your workout look like today?
Exercise and watch your faith grow!
Comments
Post a Comment