Rose-colored Glasses: F A I T H

 

Sometimes I wonder if what we’re teaching our children isn’t upside down. What I remember of the superhuman accomplishments I read about in my Bible formed in my eyes a picture of super men unlike us, men who seemed to know God and follow His path in perfect knowledge of our Lord, secure in their success, infallible—expecting  a perfect outcome in all they did. Children fear the unfamiliar; why aren't we teaching them how to deal with fear?

Growing up with that picture relieved me of any responsibility that God would ever expect anything even vaguely similar from me. There were “comic book-like heroes” who walked with God, who seemed so sure of what God wanted them to do and had the capability to do exactly that, and there was me: paralyzed by fear, surrounded by giants in my life. I never dreamed My Lord expected me to face His enemy as did those “perfect” heroes! Even more impossible to consider: His faith in ME was greater than my faith in HIM!

And I began to see those following verses telling how they lived AFTER their heroic deed and wondered how they could lose that sureness of step, how they could become fearful, doubting God’s continual presence and protection, after their eyes had seen real miracles God used them to perform? How could they be heroic one day and unfaithful or fearful the next?  

Talking about falling on your face--look at King David who killed a giant, then killed a friend to steal his wife and ended up running for his life from his own son who wanted his crown! Was it possible after all, that these heroes were unsure of success, doubtful or fearful of the outcome or that when they stood tall, that I had failed to see their faith had propelled them forward in spite of the paralyzing fear they brought with them to the battleground?

 Before Moses died, God told Joshua, Moses' 2nd in charge, that He chose Joshua, because of his faithfulness, to lead His people, as Moses had done. I'm sure Joshua felt shock and  awe and unprepared to replace the mighty Moses, who had met God face to -- shadow at least--on the mountain and returned with God's law for His people. But Joshua was assured God would lead him, just as he had led Moses, the miracle Hebrew boy, to battle against the Pharaoh who held God's chosen ones captive. 

Perhaps we shouldn’t keep our daily struggles completely to ourselves. Perhaps knowing that we have had a problem and dealt with it through the wisdom of God can encourage a friend struggling secretly, drowning in debt or doubt, to look to God for strength and wisdom, which He joyfully will provide.

 God doesn’t change. He’s not with us one day, someone else another day and then lose His train of thought, to wander away! NO, it’s me who looks away—at the looming giant facing me today, forgetting yesterday's crisis won, forgetting in the heat of today's battle, that my Father can beat   any giant,   any day,   every day!

It's Not REALLY What You Know--

 It's WHO you know, WHO you trust.  Here's WHY.

I heard of an older preacher who asked his young friend, "Which is better, 200 inches of faith and 2 inches of ice under your feet when you cross a lake? or 2 inches of faith and 200 inches of ice? Is the size of your faith more important than the trustworthiness of the object of your trust?" Not a trick question,

His answer: "The object of your faith has to be trustworthy--if it's not, no amount of faith can save you from falling through the thin, fragile ice."

In this 21st century, there's an app for almost everything, limited only by someone's imagination and all these new gadgets cost big money (my phone even has an app to program my hearing aids, but that's another story). You've been hearing about a map app and it's worth a try--getting lost is a pain and gas is big money too! Try it out on a little road trip!  Sweet, soothing voice--nice!

Then "exit freeway turn right onto small local road" and you look suspiciously at the rough two-lane road leading into the woods and hesitate--you're making good time on the freeway, why follow that sketchy little road? You speed right past the turn until suddenly flashing lights ahead call your attention to a big sign ahead "BRIDGE OUT".  Ohhhh! That's why the detour! How did the voice from your phone know? Because it constantly "reads" highway info on road conditions and highway traffic volume--information you didn't have until you've hit the problem spot. Follow last year's map or today's up-to-date warning?

You can ignore expert advice, tune out the little voice of your map app--but sooner or later you will certainly regret it. Another very important fact: until you listen and take the new revised route as told, you may receive no more info. Wisely, the app gives you instructions one step at a time--you could never memorize the whole route. You need to respond to each instruction before you will hear another step.

You probably have a Bible. Probably a dusty one. Remember, the Author has information you don't have. If you're choosing your own path instead of following your Creator's Manufacturer's Guide  on how to negotiate twists and turns along your dangerous road to Heaven, you have forfeited your right to complain about your problems you chose to handle for yourself! 

If you take a detour, you're stuck--until you return to the spot where you left God's path for you, before He will give you further instructions. His instructions are not "multiple choice" You don't get to pick your preference! He will sit quietly, waiting for your response before He speaks again. You don't get to ask "WHY" (Well, actually,  you can complain but He's patient and will outwait you)

We accept the map app's infallibility, why do we insist God should open his map for our success for the next five years before we take that next step forward? ---and we all do it!  The book of Proverbs lists many suggested steps which can lead to the outcome He planned for each of us. God asked King Solomon, said to be the richest man ever, what one gift he desired from God, and he asked for wisdom, above all else--he shared the wealth of his wisdom from God with the world in this book.

His ways are not our ways. In Matthew 7, we learn that difference clearly:

        24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27“The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”      Matthew 7:24-27