....Lately I've been running on faith...what else can a poor |girl| do? But my world will be right, when love comes over you... Eric Clapton (Running on Faith)
Living a faithful life sounds pretty straight-forward. Have faith, be faithful, faithfully follow. Thankfully for me, I have been pulled from the fiery pits of hell so many times that I don't have to try to have faith, I can do nothing except have faith.
In spite of myself, God loves me, leads me and saves me, usually from myself. In the traditional hymn, How Firm a Foundation, we are reminded that
“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
“The soul that on Jesus doth lean for repose,
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”
Faith is the most important thing in my life. Faith empowers me, allows me to live with hope and to remember that God loves me; no use trying to hide or change to earn that love. He knows me through and through.
And loves me still.
Faith is, indeed, the foundation of my being.
Matthew 17:20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Additionally, I've talked a lot about love and how important it is to incorporate the recommendations found in Corinthians into our own lives
Like many other things about which I write, walking in faith and serving in love are not as simple as they seem and can be quite challenging. Much like treating ALL people with love (in addition to those we "select") we either follow in faith or we don't - there's no picking and choosing. We submit or we don't. God either knew us before he formed us in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5), numbered every hair on our heads (Luke 12:7) and orders our steps (Psalm 37:23) or He doesn't.
DISCLOSURE - I am not trained in scripture comprehension, application or anything similar...I am a regular person trying to live a faithful life and I'm sure that the verses I noted above can have other meanings or may not apply in the way that I mean for them to BUT they help me to lead a loving and fulfilling life. I don't use scriptural references to try to justify actions, manipulate or denigrate others, or to argue. The purpose is to assist in communication.
Having faith means many things and especially for me, when I am challenged, experiencing something "weird" or questioning tenets held to be ever so absolute, I know that God is at work in my life. I try to listen, follow and submit. I try to get out of the way. Having faith means tuning into something greater than myself. Having faith means that I have to be willing to take chances, to step into unknown or scary territory, and even occasionally do things that I'm not very sure about (probably for a host of reasons).
As I try to live in faith and love, it is certain that I have free will and am responsible for my actions, but it is also certain that God knows where I'm going. He may even have a plan for me and I will try, with my heart and my humanity, to follow.
When I reflect on where I've been in my life and where I am, it is ever so obvious that I was never alone.
I Believe:
- My steps are ordered
- God will lead me
- Everything will be OK
- (That's all I need to know)
No comments:
Post a Comment