Got Faith?

During my vacation, I have been thinking and praying about a couple of different "themes" that God seems to be pressing on my heart. One of those themes is the importance of faith.

In a few days, I will be fully immersed in another summer season of ministry with Sunshine. This will be my 9th summer of ministry with Sunshine! I am excited for it to begin. However, at the same time I am challenged by the thought/question of what I expect God to do this summer. I am convinced that He wants to do big things in us and through us. Sadly too often I limit His largeness. It is so easy to slide into what is comfortable, and to be content with small prayers and small results. I don't want that to be the case this summer. I want to seek Him for big Kingdom impacting things, and I want to serve Him with fervency and anticipation.

Sometimes I am guilty of looking at others who are in ministry and thinking "I wish I had that type of faith." Or I look at the believers in the book of Acts, and think wouldn't it be great if God did that today. The thing is, He still can. God has not changed. His Holy Spirit is still alive and active. The men and women and the Bible are no different than you and I. As Pastor Chan reminded me James 5:17 states, "Elijah was a man just like us." In "Crazy Love" Chan states, "As chronicled in Hebrews 11, the God that the people of faith served is the very One we serve." Later he adds, "When you pray, your prayers are heard by the same God who answered the Moses' prayer for water in the desert, the God who gave Abraham and his barren wife a son, and the God who made the slave Joseph second in power only to Pharaoh (pg 116)." Do I believe that? Do you?

I am also in a season/situation in my personal life where I am not in control. In other words, "my hands are tied." I have no choice but to trust God. There isn't another option. This is hard. This is stretching. The following words out of Francis Chan's "Crazy Love" really resonates with me. He states, "This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be: in fact, it flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning. We like finding refuge in what we have already rather than in what we hope God will provide." Whew! That is rocking me right now.

The Bible states in Hebrews 11:6 it states, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Lord I believe, help me in my unbelief.