Forgiveness

It was a typical weekday, and I was off to lunch.  It was not unusual for me to meet someone for lunch, but this particular day I was quite anxious.  Sleep had alluded me the night before, and now in the waiting moments at the restaurant, I was not hungry.  My stomach was already full of butterflies.

Who was I waiting for?  My father.

Why was I so nervous?  That will take a little explanation.

From my first breath, I was “daddy’s little girl.”  I loved spending time with my dad until I started growing up, and then it became more difficult.  Little by little my dad hurt me.  Not physically, but his words pierced my heart until I was at the point of emotional cardiac arrest.

Two years prior to this lunch date, I had moved 1,000 miles from home.  I made sure that my dad had no part in that.  I didn’t want him around, and I didn’t need him.

Over those two years, God worked in my heart.  He helped me to see the darkness in the deepest corner of my heart because I harbored anger against my father.  Regardless of the hurt, Scripture was clear.  I was to honor my father.  Whether he deserved it or not was immaterial.  God has also commanded me to rid myself of anger and bitterness and forgive.

Before moving back to my hometown, God had transformed my heart to forgive my dad.  But I continued to struggle.  You may identify with my struggle.  I wanted to forgive.  I believe I had forgiven him, but it still came to mind.  My heart still hurt at the thought of my dad.  Why was that?

He had never repented.  His lack of repentance robbed me of the opportunity to grant him forgiveness.  My heart was poised.  My desire was to grant forgiveness because I had already forgiven him before God.

As we were seated, I had resolved to just let him carry the conversation.  As soon as our orders were taken, he took that opportunity.  He told me that he had realized how much he continuously hurt me over the years, and he was sorry.  He wanted to meet as many times as necessary to apologize for each and every indiscretion.

“If that is what you need to do,” I said, “we will do that.  But it is not necessary because it is already forgiven.”

We never talked about it again.  My lunches with my dad were no longer awkward.  He walked me down the aisle when I got married, and I didn’t cringe at the thought.  Restoration was possible because internal forgiveness made granted forgiveness a reality at the right time.

Since that day, there have been three people in my life who have hurt me with the same intensity.  I have struggled with knowing if forgiveness is real or just lip service to ease my conscience.  Understanding internal and granted forgiveness has helped me find freedom in this struggle.

The posture of my heart toward each of them is forgiveness.  But not one has ever requested it.  Not one has come to me to ever admit that there was any hurt.  All of them have made it clear that they do not want to have anything to do with me.

My heart mourns the loss of restoration, but my soul finds peace in realizing that forgiveness is reality and it is complete.  They are forgiven.  I choose not to hold it against them, and I long for the day that this gift of forgiveness can be granted.

Bethany’s Bolivia Blog – Day 0

In a few hours our trip to Bolivia will begin with a VERY LONG travel day!   Getting to this point has been an adventure all its own.   God has already seen us through many details preparing to leave…yellow fever shots, visas, packing, raising funds…but the time has come.

I will do my very best to post everyday to this blog, and I will post pictures on the Coastal Facebook Page.   If you are not following us on Facebook, just look for Coastal Community Church Yorktown.

We are committed to have you join us as much as possible on this adventure, because all of us at Coastal play a role in this trip.   Ten percent of your tithes and offerings support all of our missions.  This mean you have invested in the ministry at Children’s Impact Network (CIN) in Bolivia.  Some of you are sponsoring a child at CIN, and we will make sure that we give them your love.  🙂

A fantastic group of women at Coastal have provided 16 quilts for the boys!   I have included a picture with this blog.  Ladies, we will get pictures of the boys with the quilts you made.

What a privilege it is to be a part of the body of Christ at Coastal.  The eleven of us going are more than just individuals.  We are part of ONE body.  We are your hands and feet to Bolivia this week.  Thank you for your support in so many ways.   We cannot wait to see what God will do, and to rejoice with you upon our return.

Your prayers are much appreciated for our team.  Chris, Bethany and Kristin Lay, Jeff Frye, Pauline and James, Jr. Riddick, Heidi and Aubrey Rundquist, Scott Shearer, Aletia Thompson, and Matt Dupree.  We leave tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m.

Real Transformation

I have a million and one things to do before 5:00 p.m. today, and it is 10:46 a.m.   This blog has unexpectedly become the one million and one item.  (Please forgive me if I ramble a bit…there is no time for a lot of editing today…this is right off the top of my head and straight out of my heart.)

In recent days, I have been able to truly empathize with David when he said, “Why so downcast oh my soul?”   So, what did I do this morning?  I followed the instruction in this verse (Ps. 42:5).  I put my hope in God.  I woke up and spent time with Him.

Titus 2 and 1 Peter 2-3 were the subject of my time with Him, and as I went about some of my Saturday chores, God’s words continued to roll around in my mind.  Romans 12 says that we are to renew our minds so that we will be transformed.   So today, all of the words in my mind finally made their way to my heart, for a truly transforming moment that also lifted some of my downcast spirit.

Are you ready for it?  LOL!   It is so elementary, you may be disappointed.

I am a better person today because of my husband.

You see, it is not extremely complex or philosophical.  It amazes me that it has taken so long for this truth to come to a transformational moment.  I have understood that this is God’s plan for marriage.  I have sat through many sermons where I have been reminded that marriage is used to make us more like Christ.

I have faithfully obeyed God’s commands about marriage to the best of my ability…for years.

And I have also fallen short of complete obedience…for years.   I am a sinner, and I will never be perfect at the marriage thing.

But this morning, I was reflecting on the ideas of marriage and submission.  My interactions with my husband over the years…both good and bad…have taught me how to interact with others.

I am a better mother, because of my relationship with my husband.
I am a better employee, because of my relationship with my husband.
I am a better friend, because of my relationship with my husband.
I am a better counselor, because of my relationship with my husband.
I am a better sister, cousin, aunt, daughter…because of my relationship with my husband.

I am not a better fisherman, despite my husbands efforts.  😦   But I do know a lot more about fishing!

Now, I have an amazing husband!   But before you misunderstand my words, let me share this with you.

I don’t get flowers everyday.  I don’t even get them every month.  Valentine’s Day is about it.
His speech is not dripping with romance.  Our relationship does not mirror the romantic movies that I love to watch.
He is not the perfect spiritual leader, never doing anything wrong.  He is a sinner, just like me.

God did not tell me to submit when my husband deserves it.  He told me to love and to submit to my husband because HE (God) commands it.  In doing so, He (God) has transformed me to be more like Christ.  And because of his virtue and his shortcomings, my husband, Chris Lay, has played a major role in this transformation as well.  God has used him in an incredible way.  (Chris, I hope that you feel how much God values you!)

How was I transformed?

First, I feel such an overwhelming sense of worth.  God, the Creator of all things, not only chose to use me, but chose to give me the incredible gift of Chris Lay in order to make me more like Christ so that I could serve Him even better.

Second, Chris is not just a husband.  He is not just to make me feel good.  He is not just to take care of me and protect me.  He is an invaluable gift directly from God!!  He is a good and perfect gift…even when he is not perfect.

My love for my husband has grown today, and today Chris did not do one thing.  God did.  He opened my eyes with a renewed perspective on the incredible gift he gave me almost 16 years ago.

I love you Chris.

Thank you, God, for such a good and perfect gift.  He is more than I could have asked for or imagined.

Entitlement vs. Humility

My generation is called “Gen X.”  In my high school and college years, my generation was defined as cynical and slackers.  There was very little positive press about the Gen Xers.

Now in the 21st Century it seems that the Millennials are getting the same bad press.  There is no doubt that some of the bad press is true.  It was with my generation.  I did not live up to the labels of my generation, and I trust that there are Millennials who also do not live up to their stereotype.  My thoughts are not intended to add fuel to the generational fires.  As a matter of fact, my thought today is that the “sins” of each generation are common to man.  The “sins” we generational-ize are sin, plain and simple.

My Bible study has taken me on a journey to the topic of “humility.”  Here is the thought for today:  humility is the thing that will destroy the entitlement mentality.

First, let me stress that while the Millennials are tagged with the “entitlement” label, this is not an exclusive label!  As I observe people day after day, I see that each of us has a sense of entitlement.  I fight the temptation of entitlement.  It is just that we older generations have a “more acceptable” form of entitlement.

Does this sound familiar?

“I deserve to be treated with respect in my place of employment, at school, in my home.”

“I can’t believe what he/she said about me.  I deserve the opportunity to retaliate.  After all, it is not right for me to be a door mat.”

“I am the customer.  I am paying for a service.  I deserve to be served quickly and accurately.   If I am not, I will find a manager to complain.  And if I am loud enough, I should get something free…after all, I deserve it because my rights were violated.”

“My husband/wife does not meet my needs.  He/She is verbally abusive. I deserve to be happy, so I am justified in ___________________.” (getting a divorce, having an affair, giving the silent treatment, yelling and screaming.)

“I have worked faithfully for 25 years with this company.  I deserve a decent retirement…not a lay off.”

“Women should have just as many rights as men.” or “Why do men always have to be the ones to give in?”

I realize that we must have boundaries in our lives in order to be safe.  But sometimes I think that we mistake comfort for safety.

As I study godly men and women in the Bible, I see that they were not always comfortable.   As a matter of fact, what they experienced was unfair! Joseph was falsely accused and thrown in prison.  Moses was “thrown under the bus” by his own brother and sister.  Esther was taken from her people and forced to be a concubine to a foreign king, and she had to be in a beauty contest.  Today, the ERA would be making front page with all the demonstrations.

The greatest injustice, however, was focused on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Philippians 2:6-8 tells us this:

[Jesus] Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

If there was every anyone who was rightfully entitled, it is was Jesus Christ.   He was and is God.  Yet, innocent, He took our punishment of death.  He did not defend Himself.  He did not seek out His rights.  He did not throw a temper tantrum.  He was not screaming and yelling all the way to Calvary inciting the crowds to a demonstration.

He. Humbled. Himself.

The first step in changing this culture of entitlement that completely surrounds us is to have a humble heart.  This poem has come to my mind many, many times over the last two weeks.  I hope it encourages and challenges you, as it has me.

Dying to Self
Author Unknown

When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don’t sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, by your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ…that is dying to self.

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, or even defend yourself, but take all in patient, loving silence…that is dying to self.

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any impunctuality, or any annoyance; when you stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility – and endure it as Jesus endured…that is dying to self.

When you are content with any food, any offering, and climate, any society, any raiment, any interruption by the will of God…that is dying to self.

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works, or itch after commendations, when you can truly love to be unknown…that is dying to self.

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances…that is dying to self.

When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and can humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart…that is dying to self.

Are you dead yet?  In these last days, the Spirit would bring us to the cross.

Beast and the Beauty

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is my mom’s favorite.  (Mine is “Cinderella” but we still get along…LOL).   So when we went to visit her during Kristin’s spring break, we went to see the new “Beauty and the Beast” again.

I have been pondering my last blog where we talked about what would have happened in Belle had responded poorly.  I titled this blog, “Beast and the Beauty” because I want to explore what would have happened if the Beast had responded poorly.

Because we are all selfish in our sinful nature, I believe we often feel that we are getting the shaft in relationships.  We view the other person at fault almost all of the time.  So when our “beasts” do not turn in to the handsome princes we want, we feel that we are the recipients of injustice.

But sometimes this is EXACTLY what happens.

The. Beast. Doesn’t. Change.

How, then, will we respond?

This brings me to one of my most favorite passages in all of Scripture.  Daniel 3:16-18.  Let me set the scene.

The Israelites have been taken into Babylonian captivity.  Daniel and his three friends, (eventually renamed) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo, had shown their devotion and God’s power by not eating King Nebuchadnezzar’s food that, to the Jew, was unclean.  Daniel had interpreted the king’s dream and he was promoted in the kingdom.

To say that King Nebuchadnezzar was confident would be an understatement!  He admired himself so much that he had a golden image of himself made and he commanded everyone in Babylon to bow down to his image when they heard the horn blow.

Right on cue, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo did not bow down.  Enemies of the Jews made sure that King Nebuchadnezzar knew it!  Furious, the king had the young Hebrew men brought before him.  If they did not bow down to his image, he would surely through them into the fiery furnace.

What did they do?  Look at these beautiful verses in Daniel 3:

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.^{[d] 18} But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

What a “mic drop” moment!

You see, we “Beauties” are to do the right thing even if the “Beasts” never change.  If we forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive, seventy times seven times, then we are doing the right thing EVEN IF the objects of our forgiveness never accept or acknowledge it.

If you are like me, you always want to know the end of the story.  Will it be a happy ending?  Probably not if Nicholas Sparks is the author.  🙂    I can’t tell you how many times I have started to watch a summer TV series only to have it cancelled after one season.  How does the story end?  What is the resolution to the cliff hanger?  I have to know!

As I talk with women about the struggles they face, I wish that I could tell them that everything is going to be great.  I wish I could tell them that in the end everything is going to work out in their favor.  There will be no divorce.  There will be no death.  Children will be pillars of society.  From an earthly perspective, we cannot know the end of the story, nor can we always control it.

But if we keep an eternal perspective, we are assured of the end of the story.  God wins.  Evil is destroyed.  Beauties are vindicated.

This is why we do what is right.  This is why we forgive and forgive and forgive.  This is why we bend even our “beasts” do not.

It is not about Beast.

It is not about Beauty.

It is about doing what is right to bring glory to God.   Period.

What is the end of the story for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo?  They were thrown into the fiery furnace, and God saved them.   His glory was obvious to the people and the king of Babylon.   This is all that mattered.  They were confident in verses 16-18 because they knew the end of the story.  God would be glorified in whatever came to pass…and they were not disappointed.

If we embrace this truth, we will never be disappointed either.

Beauty and the Beast

Once upon a time there was a young girl named Belle who lived with her father in a little village.   One day, Belle’s father left to go to the market as he did a few times each year, but this time would be different.  On the way home, he encountered a bad storm and was lost in the woods.   He happened upon a castle.   How odd that he had never noticed it before!   Much to his dismay, the castle was inhabited by a ferocious beast who took him as a prisoner.

The next morning, Belle was startled to see her father’s horse return without him.  Worried, she sped off to find her father, and the horse led her to the castle.   She called, but no one answered.  As she wandered the castle, she soon found her father in the dungeon.   As quickly as she found him, the Beast found her and was enraged at her intrusion.

She begged the Beast to let her take her father’s place.  The Beast complied.

The servants in the castle felt sorry for Belle, so they released her from the dungeon and showed her to a very comfortable room.  They cleaned her up, gave her some new clothes and a hot meal.   Though nice, it was not at all what Belle wanted.  She was an independent woman capable of taking care of herself.  She wanted to be free.  It was not fair that she was being held hostage in the castle of a beast.

When the Beast learned what the servants had done, he was again outraged, but he soon realized that Belle could be a good companion for him, so he attempted to be kind.   The problem was that he was not good at being kind.  All his attempts were meager at best, and with every effort, Belle chose to focus on how much he fell short.  He gave her a library fulfilling her greatest passion, but he didn’t even smile when she accepted it!  What a jerk!

She could never love someone who was so unkind and self-centered.  After all, she was known for her kindness and humility.  Her virtue deserved better than his small gestures.   She could never forgive him for holding her hostage.  Sure, she chose to take her father’s place, but this is not what she expected.  She was sure that she would escape and every day she dreamed of her freedom.  But the days became months and the months became years, and Belle lived out her life comfortable, but trapped.  Her trap was not simply the walls of the castle, but the unrelenting bitterness of her own heart.

_______________________________________

This VERY abridged and modified version of Beauty and the Beast certainly does not end with “happily ever after.”   If the recent release of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast read like this, it would not be a box office hit.

My daughter and I went to see the new movie this past weekend.  I must admit that I was a bit nervous going to see the movie because of all the media hype about Gaston and LaFou.   This blog will not address that issue, but I will say that the hype was worse than the final cut.   Another topic for another time.

This is the thought that came to me in the middle of the movie.  “If only our marriage relationships could reflect that of Belle and Beast.”   What?!   Let me explain by starting with some of the lyrics from “Tale as Old as Time” by Howard Elliott Ashman and Alan Menken.  The emphases are mine.

Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly

Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared

…

Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bitter sweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong
…

Now hold that thought as I continue…

Belle chose to stay with the Beast.  She did not have to.  Her father even pleaded with her to leave and live her life.  She was young, and he was old.  She had so much to do with her life.   But Belle chose to stay.

The Beast is harsh and cruel.  Yet, he allows her to be comfortable.   She has a nice room.  She has nice clothes.  She has food to eat.  Like most husbands, he is meeting her basic needs to survive.  But like some husbands, he offers no emotional support and no love.   At one point Belle says, “I am not a princess.”  Why should she not think this?  The Beast certainly does not treat her like one.

Note that she only sees him as a beast, and rightfully so!  Yet despite his rudeness to her, she never returns anything but kindness.  (“the somebody bends”)

She is NOT a doormat.  But she is kind.  She accepts his attempts at kindness (“small to say the least”) and forgives his inability to show her the love her heart longs for.  Soon, the Beast’s heart softens and he becomes more and more attractive to Belle (“learning you were wrong”).  She tenderly and subtly helps him to learn how to love, and by the movie’s end, he has been transformed into her Prince Charming.  (“finding you can change”)

What would our culture look like if wives followed Belle’s example?  Accepting and loving the men they chose to marry.  Forgiving their feeble attempts, “small to say the least,” at lovingkindness and seeing directly to a heart that also longs to be loved.

Too often, this is not what women do.  The feminist ideals of the last fifty years have conditioned women, even Christian women, to stand up for their rights.  We should expect to be treated with love and respect.  After all, husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church, right?!  While our independence kicks against being rescued by Prince Charming, we all grow up with this unrealistic ideal for the men we marry.

It’s no wonder our husbands can look like the Beast.  We have unrealistic expectations.  We yearn for a love that man is not capable of giving.

What is the solution?  Do we just lie down and take the cruel, selfish actions that our husbands can give in the name of loving kindness?

Of course not!

We find our true Prince Charming, Jesus Christ.  We bask in His loving kindness.  We focus our attention on Him, and then we love our earthly Prince Charming as He does.

Belle’s story is all about choices.  She chose to do the loving thing and take her father’s place.  Then she chose to be kind to the Beast.  She chose to get rid of all bitterness and to be tenderhearted.  Only then would she receive the true love of a prince.

As we do what is right, regardless of how we feel, eventually good feelings will catch up.  When we rid ourselves of bitterness, to our husband or anyone else who has hurt us, and choose Christ, we, too, can rest in the love of our Prince and see the “beasts” among us transform.

Names, names, names

I have challenged myself to “listen” through the Bible in a year.   I have the You Version Bible app, and it allows me to listen to the Bible in chronological order.  Of course, it starts with the Old Testament, and some days, like today, are painful!  I was listening to the division of land between the twelve tribes of Israel.   The author listed every tribe and each city and land boundary for each tribe.   At least when I read it, I can skim over it, but listening to it forces me to go through word by word.

If you know me, you know that when I read the Bible I say, “So what?”   How does this affect my life today?   When I listened to all of these cities, I thought, what difference does this make?   And it took me to this thought.  Please allow me a little “devotional license” in my application.

My daughter recently was in a choral competition at Busch Gardens.   At the end of the day, we were sitting in the amphitheater listening to all the names of all the schools.  Sound familiar?  I was just as bored there as I was with  the distribution of land among the tribes.  But then something happened, the name “Summit Christian Academy” was read.   We all cheered as we held a sense of school pride.

My thought today was that if the tribe of Manassah was in the car with me, I would probably hear cheers of excitement.  Maybe not, but here is the point.

Those names in the genealogy records and land distributions represent real people.   Real people who make up “God’s people.”  God choose to use people to complete His plan.   And here is where it gets personal.  He chooses us!    (See Eph. 1)

As we have been getting into a new rhythm in our new building at Coastal, I have had a renewed awe for the body of Christ.    Over the last week, I have seen people in just about every nook and cranny of the new building, and each of those people was doing something to build the Kingdom of God.   Here is what my summary could look like…

As I went through the building, I saw Kim, leader of hospitality, Jen, wife of Shaun, church leader, Elaina, ministry director, Courtney, leader of food distribution, Paul, leader of food distribution, Tami, Scott, Dave and a host of others, workers for the food distribution.  This is only a short list of people serving one night.   It could be so much  longer with all of those in our church who contribute to the body of Christ.

My point is that the body of Christ is made up of many individuals, and it is an honor that God chooses to use us.

 

Shield of Faith, Part 3 – Don’t be the missing LINK.

Our church has recently acquired a new building.   I cannot wait to publish all of the stories of faith surrounding this venture!    As we began down this road, Pastor Shaun shared the vision with our church.  He expressed that it was necessary for all of us in the church to “LINK arms” as one body in order to move forward.

Keep that in mind as you read about the next thing I learned in my study of the Shield of Faith.

In Bible times, the Roman army was virtually unstoppable.   They were strong, powerful and strategic.   One nearly impenetrable strategy was that of the “Turtle Formation.”   Let me explain.

Each soldier carried a shield constructed to extinguish the fiery arrows that would be aimed at them.   It was made of several layers of material with a gap in the middle.   Before going to fight, the soldiers would dip their shields in water adding a tremendous amount of weight, but an equally tremendous amount of protection.  The water caught in the gap would literally extinguish the fiery arrows that hit the shield.

This, in and of itself, is a great picture of what the shield of faith can do.  Scripture tells us that it will extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one.   Those in Paul’s day would have fully understood this word picture.

But it gets better.

The soldiers would take these soaked shields into battle.  When the arrows started to fly, they would huddle together.  Each shield had hooks on each side.   As they huddled they would LINK their shields.  Several men formed a circle of shields LINKED together providing an “outer shell” while other men stood in the circle with their shields LINKED together and hoisted over their heads.   This provided a top covering, and all together the picture looked like a turtle shell…the Turtle Formation.

No matter where the arrows came from, this formation would protect the men and extinguish the arrows.  There were no gaps in the formation because the shields were LINKED together.

Mind. Blown.

This gave new meaning to Pastor Shaun’s directive that we as a church body LINK arms with one another.   Each of us has a Shield of Faith.   How is our faith exhibited?  Through our obedience.  As we together obey the call of God despite our feelings, we are linking our shields of faith together protecting the body from the fiery arrows of the evil one.

I was convicted.  Have I obeyed God by forgiving my fellow believers?  Have I obeyed God by sharing my faith with unbelievers?  Have I obeyed by using the gifts He has given me to build up the body?  Have I obeyed God by submitting to the authority that He has ordained over me?   Have I obeyed by being faithful to church attendance, not to check off a box, but to join forces with fellow soldiers?

If I am not faithful to a local body of believers, there is a gap in our turtle formation!   It leaves all of us exposed to the fiery arrows.

By accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ by faith, I have become part of a body of believers.   As I obey God in respect to my fellow believers, I am exhibiting my faith in Him.  This obedience becomes easier for me as I understand my role in the body of Christ because it is an overflow of worship in response being a part of this body through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And again, it comes full circle.

Shield of Faith, Part 2

So, faith is exhibited through obedience.  It is an action.

Now let’s look at the object of our faith.

Our actions show that we have faith in several things.  First, our parents.  We do what they tell us to do because for the most part, our parents are worthy of our trust.  They love and protect us.  They provide for us.  They have proven that they are worthy of our trust and we show this through obedience.

As adults, we have faith in the law.  Well…most of the time.  🙂     We do not rob a bank because we trust the law will hold us accountable.   Like our parents, the law has earned our trust.  After all, we don’t want anyone to rob or vandalize our homes.   If they do, the law will protect us.   So we obey the law because we know of its benefits.

The list can go on and on, but when the list is complete, there is nothing on the list that is fully trustworthy.   For many, their parents have broken their trust.  They did not love or protect.  For some, the law did not provide justice when circumstantial evidence became overwhelming.  We have been betrayed and abused…

Except for the only One Who is worthy of our faith, God.

Previously I stated that obedience is not always easy, and the enemy makes sure of that.  But I have found that obedience gets easier as I know more about the Object of my faith.   The more I know about God, and the more I grow in my personal relationship with Him, the easier it is to obey because my heart overflows with worship for the Only One who is worthy.

2 Timothy 2:13 astounds me.   It says, “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.”  (NLT)

When God is the object of my faith, I find that the object of my faith is more faithful than I am!   We seem to turn that around.   We think that if we have enough faith, we will somehow trigger God’s faithfulness.  We strive and strive for something that is completely unattainable.  God’s faithfulness is NOT based on any amount of faith that we possess.

Our faith does not control God.

Priscilla Shirer eloquently says, “…’having faith’ actually says far less about us and a lot more about God.  Faith does not focus on the quality or quantity of human belief.  It focuses on how trustworthy, true, and loyal the object of that belief has proven Himself to be.”  (Armor of God, pg. 139)

So, if our faith is exhibited through obedience, we do not need more faith to obey.  We need to know more about the One we are obeying.  We need to realize that He is far stronger and smarter than we are.   We need to understand that if He can save our souls from eternal death, then He can meet our needs today.   When we come to this realization, obedience will naturally overflow as worship to the only One Who is worthy.  And again, we come full circle.

Shield of Faith

 

Faith.   It is such a huge subject it is hard to know where to begin, and it may take more than one blog post!

My studies have taken me back to the very beginning of my faith, so I guess that is a good place to start.  I have been a Christian for the vast majority of my life.  I accepted Christ when I was only 6 years old.  That was almost 40 years ago.  YIKES!   🙂

Since Christianity has been my life, I often zone in on faith as a day to day thing, and I often scold myself for coming up short of this abstract concept so often.   I forget that it took faith almost 40 years ago to enter into this relationship with Christ.

This is where my study of the shield of faith began a few weeks ago.   I was able to articulate it this way…

The Gospel is accepted by faith.  My faith is exhibited through my obedience to Christ, and my obedience is an overflow of worship in response to the Gospel.

It comes full circle.   The faith I had to accept the Gospel is part of the sanctification process because it is an expression of worship in response to the Gospel through obedience.

If I were to ask you, which is easier faith or obedience, what would you say?   I would say obedience because to me it is much more tangible.

When I was a child, my mom would say, “Don’t put your finger in a electrical outlet.”  At two years old, it was easier to simply keep my fingers out of the electrical outlet than it was to try to analyze whether or not my mom was trustworthy or to learn all of the nuances of electricity.

Why would it be any different in my spiritual life?   God tells me to be pure in my marriage relationship, and when I was single, He told me to save myself sexually for my marriage relationship.   I could try to figure out what faith is, and how I am supposed to have faith in Someone I do not see.   I could analyze the idea of purity and whether or not it is beneficial to remain pure.  I could spend hours reading, studying, processing……or I could simply obey.

Why do we so often choose the former when the response is so simple?  When I obey, I am showing my faith in God!   How simple is that?  No, it is not always easy to obey.  The enemy makes sure of that.   But it really is that simple.

I love how Priscilla Schirer puts it.  “Walking in faith for me means doing what God has called me to do anyway – following through on God’s instructions despite how incapable I might feel.”   (Armor of God, page 133.)

We simply do what God calls us to do.   We may feel incapable of obedience.  We may feel defeated by past disobedience.  We may question our ability to actually fulfill the task that God has put before us and feel completely inadequate.  Wherever we fall short in our feelings, God makes up the difference through our obedience.  We obey.   He fulfills.   It’s really that simple.

And this brings us back to the beginning.   Our obedience is possible because of our acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is an overflow of worship because of the incredible gift that we have been given.

 

As a child, I sang this truth without full understanding.   I am so thankful for a greater understanding now.  I will end with that song:

“Trust and obey.  For there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”