Great Is His Faithfulness

A couple of weeks ago in worship we sang the song "Never Once".  Just in case you have never heard it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1bXG4WIesA

I have not been able to get the song out of my mind.  Many times when I have awakened during the night, I start singing it.  I think God wants me to remember that never once I have walked through a trial by myself.  I know that I have written this before, but one of the things I have learned through the years is that I cannot be guided by my feelings, I have to be guided by what I know.  Only what I know is Truth.  So I am continually singing "You are faithful, God you are faithful".

It is amazing to grasp that truth, that never once have I ever had to walk alone.  He doesn't promise that I won't be on a battleground, but when I am, He will be giving me the strength to fight and keep walking.  I am carried by His constant grace.  Every step I am breathing in His grace and every breath I will be singing  out His praise.

I look back on my life and there has been so many times that I had to rely on God's strength to get me through. I confess that most often my response is "Really, again God?"  Instead, I need to say "It's okay because, just like you walked me through in the past, you will walk me through today and forever more".  There is great comfort in that Truth and therefore I can "count it all joy" when I face this battle I am currently in and the ones that are yet to come.

I think this song was an answer to my heart cry of my last two blog posts.  I am forever thankful that God speaks to me through music.  I want to learn to hear Him speaking just as loudly through His Word.  In order to do that, I need to read His Word at least as often as I listen to music!  Thank you God for your patience with me as I continue to learn and declare that "You are faithful, God you are faithful".

P.S. I also love this clip where Matt Redman talks about why he wrote the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR77PdCiU68

Perseverance

Perseverance seems to be the word of the hour right now. Those of you that have followed my blog for awhile, know that this is how the Spirit works with me. He usually gives me a thought and then I have it over and over for awhile. I guess it just takes me awhile to learn the lessons. But this week, it seems that I am suppose to understand the meaning of perseverance.

So I looked it up in the dictionary: 1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. 2. Theology . continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation. A synonym for perseverance is steadfast. Here is the definition: a : firmly fixed in place : immovable b : not subject to change 2 c : firm in belief, determination, or adherence


First of all it seems that it is trials that give us perseverance. They have a purpose. 
Romans 5:3 "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance." 
James 1:12 "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 
James 1:3 "because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." 
1 Peter 5:10 "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." 


Perseverance seems to be required in order to receive other Godly attributes. 
James 1:4 "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." 2 Peter 1:6-8 "make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." 


We will be rewarded for having persevered. 
Hebrews 10:36 "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." 
James 5:11 "As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy." Isaiah 26:31 "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." Psalm 112:7 "They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD." 


There are T.V. evangelists that would like us to think if we just had enough faith we would not have to endure any trials. But Jesus did not say "if" you have trials but "when". In John 16:33 we read "“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Notice in the Hebrews 12:1 verse that it says "the race marked out for us"?? That means that whatever it is I am going through is for a purpose, and that is why I can endure it with perseverance. It is my faith that causes me to run that race knowing that God promises, those of us who love Him, that He will work ALL things together for our good.(Romans 8:28) 

One of my favorite passages of the Bible is in Luke 11:5-13. Jesus had just taught His disciples the Lord's prayer. "Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything. I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Perseverance. Keeping on, keeping on. Knowing that God my Father will only have my best at the center of His thoughts. And the best part of the perseverance race,is that I am not running by myself! Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." That cloud of witnesses includes Noah, Moses, Abraham, Joseph,David, Job, Ruth, Mary, Hannah,Peter, Paul, and so many more. Did any of these go through life without troubles? How about any of your spiritual heroes that have lived during your lifetime? Did any of them go through life unscathed? I can't help but think of my sweet father, who ran his own race of perseverance and in the midst of his trials would say "I am going to say hallelujah anyway".

And then if that isn't enough, God Himself is running the race with me. Jude 24-25 "To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—  to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." So while I don't always understand the twists and turns of the race, I am certain of the finish line and I hope that I continue to run my race with perseverance and at the end I will hear my God say to me "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Faith Is Hard

To me the hardest part of blogging is deciding on the Title. This time it came pretty easy, because that is really what I want to talk about tonight. I find faith to be hard. First of all it is hard to really explain what faith is. Yes, I know what the Bible says it is "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 But then I ask "what do hope for?" and "what do I not see?" It is too easy to just say God. To me it is much more complex than that. So my own personal definition has more to do with trust. Faith is trusting that the one I cannot see has it all in control and all will work out for the best. But I really want faith that it will all work out the way I want it to work out. Really? My way doesn't see the future. My way doesn't see all the ramifications. And my way definitely may not be what is best. My way is usually what is easy. It takes faith to believe that when everything looks askew God's plan is still perfect. Which brings me to the next aspect of faith that I struggle with. If God is going to do what He is going to do anyway, because He alone knows what the perfect plan is. What am I praying for?? There is a sweet couple in Texas that gave birth to a daughter three weeks ago today. They named her Emma because that means whole and God would make her whole. See about four months ago Emma's parents had been told she wasn't developing quite right and as time went on the reports got worse. Her head was very hyro-cephalic which meant she would be missing part of her brain, then they were told her little hands were not forming, and that she had a cleft palate from the lip to the eye. So what kind of faith did it take to call her Emma?? Then there were countless prayers going up for this baby and asking God to give these sweet parents a miracle. I wish this next sentence said "and they got it". But they didn't,in fact the neurosurgeon was right there as Emma was born and did the MRI immediately and reported "there is even less brain there than we thought". Yes, I am struggling to understand why God didn't give this couple a miracle. If you had read their posts these past months you would see they have the kind of faith in Matthew 21:21, faith that can move a mountain. Here is just one thought from their blog "We trust in the goodness of the Lord. He's always been so good to us, so why would he stop now? I recently watched a sermon that spoke about "circumstantial faith". We will not allow circumstances to rock our faith because our faith does not rest or lean upon on circumstances. It rests upon a person--Jesus Christ. It rests upon the one true God."
After a short two weeks of life, God took Emma home. And now I find myself not having clue what to pray for except for comfort and peace. That doesn't take faith though, because they are both the very nature of God. I have all confidence that He will bless this sweet couple with His presence. As a church we have also been praying months for another sweet baby named Autumn. Autumn's parents were blessed with their miracle. They had also been told their baby's brain would not be normal, but it is. Autumn was born with her intestines on the outside of her body, but she has progressed beautifully and it seems that God has answered every prayer. So I ask myself why did one parent get their prayer answered and the other not? There is no answer. And here we have "faith in what we cannot see".
When it is all said and done either I believe or I don't. Either I trust God has the best way or He doesn't. Faith is not easy. What do you do with a God who can do anything but chooses not to? You praise Him anyway. You surrender to His will. You realize that if everything always went the way we prayed no faith would be required. God would be no more than our vending machine. So even though it is hard, I choose to believe. Because without faith there is no hope.

Waiting

Waiting is not my strongest suit. It is always hard to wait, and I especially find it hard to wait on God. I know His timing is perfect and His ways are always right, but I still find it hard to wait. I found this poem, that I hope I will refer to every time I am getting impatient. And remember there are lessons to be learned in the waiting.


Wait
by Russell Kelfer
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

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