Faith & Hope

I’ve really been struggling with the idea of understanding “hope” & “faith” and not listening to Satan’s lies about me as a person in addition to God’s plan for my life. If I’m not worrying about a guy liking me, it’s me worrying that he’ll fall in love with another person over me. Never mind the fact that the whole plan is something God has in store (whether he is with me or with her or neither of us).

So let’s first talk about “faith”. As I listened to a sermon about this same subject, Circumstantial Faith is putting my belief that based on the formula of doing things “perfectly”. If I do XXXX then I must receive XXXX. If I don’t get this, then God must not be real and I can give up believing him… NOT! It’s so hard to really place trust in God when things don’t happen the way that we want.

This is where Hope comes in. We can certainly have hope that things will turn out in our favor. But the measure of faith that must come in is in regards to the fact that God always knows better than we do. We need to place our faith in Jesus/God despite the circumstances that we are in (most of which we wish would change). So, I have hope that I will be married, and I hope that he is XXXX. But as I hope I must rest in the knowledge that God knows the best plan & the when/who may be changed; but always for my good and His kingdom.

Some verses I have had to really rely on lately are:
Hebrew 11:1
Now faith is being sure of what we HOPE for and certain of what we do not see.

I hope that I will have this desire answered (to be married/wife/mother/etc.) and certain that God’s best is waiting to happen.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God,

If I refuse to have this faith (in God & his best plan – no matter what), then I cannot please God.

Because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

That even when my hopes are not answered the way I think, & I still keep the faith in God – that he WILL always reward those who place faith in him.

So maybe it really is an equation…Have FAITH in God (the kind that realizes that His best is always at hand, and His will is always best) and then He will reward you (with His kind of rewards, in His timing, and in His way).

Mark 1:40
Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean.

It’s not the fact that God is unable to answer the prayer, but more important that I fully understand that this world is NOT about me. It is about His kingdom, glory, and honor. His process is much more important, and if He is willing…I believe that He will make this happen in my life. And going along with the stuff above, I believe that even if He doesn’t choose to answer this particular prayer soon (if ever) that His ways are much higher than mine. He knows best.

The next part of the sermon series was the response to unanswered prayers. He spoke about Paul’s thorn that he pleaded with God to take away – 3 times in fact. The part that was renewed in my heart was what followed in the verses in 2nd Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 12:9b-10
Therefore I will boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Notice the plurality of that statement. Paul asked 3 times for this ONE item to be removed…but he (read I) will delight in ALL of the struggles present. As when I am weak, I am strong because of the power of Christ that He freely gives in response to my faith in him.

I know the challenge of walking with this peace is huge. The important armor that I have available is those verses above. I have been battling my soul with this whole knowledge. Not wavering on what I have learned but being frustrated with living solely on Circumstantial Faith. God is calling me to stand firm and fully trust Him. But with the kind of Faith that pleases him; faith that says You are God, I hope for good things, but realize that even if those good things I want are not what you want – I’m going to trust you anyway; because after all, you better than I.

With Open Hands

Have you ever noticed that it is hard to hold your hands completely open? Then when you relax your hands, they begin to close naturally...

I was thinking about this fact, and I can so relate this idea to my trust in God. In recent months, I was in a place of pure devotion to God. Placing my hopes for my future, my goals, my dreams, my desires in the palm of my hand with God fully in control of these items. When things seemed to be "going good" I listened to the Lie that Satan spoke, "you can put your guard down. You have this in the bag".

As I began letting my guard down, I noticed that my grip on the situation started to change. Just as when we relax our hands, they start to close. The more my hands closed, the more crazy the situation seemed to appear. Things were not working out in a way that pleased me.

This change created a catalyst of change in my heart. I lost grip of, not only the item that I wanted most, but also on perspective. When I thought that I was taking control, the more I tried to grip onto my wants/hopes/desires/etc the more everything slipped through my fingers.

This catalyst of change has forced me to reexamine my worship. Where do I place my hopes? Is it in the thing that I want? Or is in God, the creator & perfecter of my faith? So just like holding my hands completely open has times of difficulty (tiredness, pain, weakness), so is my walk with Christ. It takes specific attention to keep those hands open. It is not natural. But neither is our walk with Christ. It takes specific attention to keep his commands & walk in His truths. It is not natural to behave this way, as we are all born as sinners.

BUT (now that's a big but), we are promised that "[he] has plans for you. Plans prosper you, and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope & a future" Jere 29:11. But this promise exists that[we] will seek [him] and find [him] when [we] seek [him] with all [our] heart. He will reveal His will for our lives - if we keep our hands open so much to let him take care of all the plans. We can sit back and relax, but we must also just strive to keep the hands open.