willing to live with feet in the air

One never knows what a day will bring forth (see the book of Job). Yet there’s nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes). Things are set in place, the only difference being variations of the same.

I’m not one that’s fond of heights, though I have gotten up when I have to. I like safety, feet on the ground. Real life and the life of faith seem to involve feet in the air, unpredictability in place. Not that feet on the ground is completely safe, either.

The life of faith in this world involves an element of uncertainty. We don’t know what we’re going to face from day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year, and beyond. But with that there’s the certainty that faith brings. God is faithful, and God’s promises in Jesus for us and for the world are true, trustworthy, and certain.

So no matter what today or tomorrow might bring forth, God will see us through if we only trust in him. In and through Jesus.

 

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simple faith can be underrated, overlooked

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored.

Matthew 9:27-30a

I think too often we can overlook the importance of simple faith. Faith in God, in our Lord, for sure, but just pure unadulterated faith.

Instead somehow we think we have to do it. Yes, with help from God, maybe even by God’s grace, but still it’s up to us. Actually faith is up to us, the rest is up to God. Not to say that once we put our faith in God we’re automatons, passively carried along by God. Not at all. We’re active, but it’s completely different.

In the case of the two blind men, whether or not they had faith in God, in our Lord, in Jesus’s ability to heal them mattered to Jesus. It may seem that we don’t have much faith, but we’re to put what faith we have completely in God, in Jesus. And by simple faith receive what Jesus has to give us. That can make all the difference in the world.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

 

in process open ended

Life is strange in the sense that as you go on you realize certain things will remain the same, but that the unexpected is inevitable. So that should lend a certain kind of stability in the midst of change.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

Hebrews 11:8

God is faithful, God’s promises are certain, fulfilled in Jesus. But life is uncertain. We don’t really know what will happen from one day to the next, or what the outcome will be. Except again that God will keep his promises in Jesus. And so by faith we carry on.

It’s like a wild ride at an adventure park. You  believe you’re safe, and that you’ll arrive at “home” in the end, but getting there is another thing altogether. And it seems to me we’d all be much better off realizing this is true throughout life. We’re in process, and it’s open ended, but with an altogether good destination. In and through Jesus.

 

breaking through “same old, same old” into new ground

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

We’re up against something that is either new, or maybe more likely something we’ve faced time and time again. And the experience of it has been nothing to write home about. Not good to say the least.

What if instead of accepting that kind of experience in the midst of trial, we determine right away to choose God’s will, specifically his promise given to us in Scripture? We do so by simply praying, looking to God in faith. We can’t expect our experience to change in an instant, but it will change.

And what can be underrated is the process itself. We are turning our face in a different direction entirely, away from the gloom and doom to God’s light. The effect of doing that will change us. And then we might be able to see some things that in the darkness we could not have possibly seen before. Persevering in endurance in that process, so that God might continue to grow us toward full maturity in and through Jesus.

what we’re responsible for

…do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34

So often we can either get caught up in the past or the future. Downcast because of past mistakes and sins. Apprehensive because of possible future consequences or fear of the unknown.

That is part of the ploy of the enemy (spiritual, of course). But what we’re called to do is what Jesus tells us here (click reference for context). We’re not to worry about tomorrow, and we’re not to be frozen or even defined by past mistakes. What we’re responsible for is the present, right now.

We repent over past sins, and try to learn from past mistakes so that we can do better, gathering wisdom from Scripture. Of course we can’t undo the past, as much as we would like. But hopefully it can serve as a help for us, so that we can help others. Nor do we wring our hands in apprehension over the future. Jesus’s words address that directly in Matthew 6 (click link above). Our Father knows all we need, and will take care of our needs as we trust in him, and seek first his righteousness and kingdom in our lives, and in life in general.

It is so vitally important to have hope for today, right now. Not to be down because of the past, or be worrying about the future. It’s the present we’re responsible for. We don’t want to let the devil get us down and out because of what is out of our control.

It’s the present in which we live, where God meets us, and helps us to receive from him so that we in turn might give to others. In and through Jesus.

faith is ultimately never on our terms, but God’s

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Genesis 22:1-2

I usually don’t care too much or even enough about titles for blog posts, which are more or less important to the overall post. But in this case, I think the idea that faith is never on our terms, but God’s, is actually crucial, the point of the post. What I’m wanting to get at is simply the idea that faith to really be mature biblical faith has to venture out into territory that none of us left to ourselves would do. Think of Jesus’s life on earth. And the passage above, where God tells Abraham what is infinitely awful, and just as infinitely makes no sense.

This doesn’t mean in the least that we shouldn’t bring all of our troubles and cares to God, because indeed we should. We need to come to God as the Father God is, and let God know the details that we are concerned about. Of course for our benefit and faith, thanking him for blessings, at the same time (Philippians 4:6-7). God as our Father does care about our wants and needs (Luke 11:11-13).

Faith finds God’s answer which oftentimes is simply God’s rest and peace through the most difficult circumstances, when we refuse to take matters in our own hands, and instead, put them in God’s good hands. Casting all of our cares on God, since he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). But this requires a faith which holds on regardless of what the situation looks like to us. Oftentimes a big part of our problem is our focus. We are fixed on the problem itself, instead of the God who can fix the problem, and help us go through it. Of course sometimes the answer is simply to let it go.

And we either struggle or are weak in believing in both God’s greatness and goodness. Somehow we think it depends on us, when God in God’s infinite wisdom and grace, is going to work everything out for good somehow. The best we can do is far from foolproof. But what God does in his wisdom is ultimately meant for salvation.

We know how the story of Abraham and Isaac going to Mount Moriah ends. Abraham is pushed to the brink in trusting God, ready to plunge the knife into his son. God intervenes at that point. But when it came to God’s Son, Jesus, God did not intervene, not even in answer to Jesus’s plea to take the cup from him if possible. For Jesus it was a matter of not his will, but the Father’s will. For the joy set before him, enduring the cross, even scorning the shame. In and through Jesus, faith believes in God, therefore committing everything to God in trusting and obeying him.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

Hebrews 11:17-19

 

the need for faith and patience

Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Hebrews 6:9-12

It is easy to get discouraged in the midst of life with all its setbacks, issues, and problems. And especially so in the midst of some prolonged trial. We can be tempted to begin to doubt whether our faith really matters.

The writer to the Hebrews was dealing with something similar with them. Except they were under the threat of persecution. They were evidently discouraged and indeed afraid, and we’re thinking about returning to the safety of their former Judaism.

I can find myself worn down, and simply tired. We need to rest, take care of ourselves, not push ourselves beyond what is healthy. At the same time we’re not to back down in the least from the calling and responsibilities the Lord has given us.

And while this is for others: we’re indeed blessed to be a blessing, it’s also necessarily for ourselves. We shouldn’t dismiss the danger we ourselves face, as the NIV heading for this passage puts it, “Warning Against Falling Away.” If we think that couldn’t happen to us, then it would seem to me like we’re not taking this passage of scripture, God’s word seriously.

We need by faith and patience to continue to believe and do good, hear the word and put it into practice, as James says. How that looks in my life will be different when it comes to specifics, then from someone else. But the same fruit of the Spirit.

It would be good to read the entire book of Hebrews with the above passage in mind. A pastoral letter written to encourage a discouraged people. For us all in and through Jesus.