Faith, Expectation, and Experience

Like many Christians, I sometimes struggle to activate my faith in a particular situation.  Some things just seem so big.  How silly of me to ever think that they could be too hard for an infinitely powerful God!  Because we are so easily overwhelmed with the things life hands us, we can limit God to what we imagine could be done in a situation to make it right.  We don't remember that He told us that He could "do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us".  (Ephesians 3:20) 

Faith is strengthened by use.  2 Corinthians 10:15 speaks of faith being increased.  2 Thessalonians 1:3 speaks of faith growing exceedingly.  I've heard it said that faith is a verb - not a noun. It's something we do, not something we have.  If you read Hebrews chapter 11, the "hall of fame" listing people of faith, it shows that their faith was demonstrated by what they said or did, not just what they felt in their hearts or thought in their minds.  They trusted God, stepped out in obedience, and their faith was rewarded. 

People make faith such a mystery, but we operate in faith every day.  When you were still just a toddler, your mother probably carried you in her arms and let you flip the light switch off when you were leaving a room or flip it on when you were entering.  You had the experience of having that power at your tiny fingertips.  You probably thought it was amazing at first, but in daily life now, you touch those controls with barely a thought. Experience has taught you what happens and you have a very natural faith that the light fixture will respond when you operate the switch.

We trust people that we barely know in our everyday lives.  We'll accept a job offer and work for two weeks in a new position with nothing but the promise of a payday.  We put money in vending machines and expect a product to emerge.  We sit down in chairs that we expect to support our weight.  We turn the key in the ignition and expect the engine to start.  We do hundreds of things like this on a regular basis and we're surprised when they don't happen - not when they do.

We act first and expect something to happen. You see, faith isn't that hard.  You keep doing things because you have the experience of acting and seeing results.  If you just stand beside the switch on the wall and hope that light will illuminate the room, you'll be waiting for a very long time for that promise to manifest.  It takes the corresponding action to get the result you desire.

Now God's not a light switch and we can't reduce our interaction with Him to a formula.  He's not at our beck and call to manipulate to suit our whims.  We can, however, in the context of a relationship with Him and a knowledge of His Word and His will, act in faith upon the promises He has given us and expect those promises to be kept.

Sometimes the stepping out is a declaration of faith in prayer.  Other times there's a physical action.  Right now, my son and his wife are trying to sell their home.  When the buyer comes along, they will be moving in with us for a while until they find the next place God has for them.  I've prayed for the sale of their house, but I realized that if that is what I really expect to happen, I need to take some actions that match my expectations.  So I've been cleaning out closets, reorganizing rooms, making lists of things that might have to go to make room for them - putting some walk with the talk. I need to prepare for what I expect to see.

What's the next action you need to take to make room for what you are believing God to do in your life? Do you need to update your resume, pack up some things, start researching schools, join a ministry in your church, write a book?  There are actions tied to your prayers that you can explore, all the while declaring what the Word of God says about your situation.  With every answered prayer, you have that experience of faith operating in your life and that experience builds your faith for the next challenge.  Get some experience!

Save the Date!

I may be part of the older generation, but because of my job in education, much of what I do every day is computer related.  I don't even use a datebook or paper planner of any kind now.  All the events of my life are on a digital calendar that is available to me on any device I can access.  On the other hand, there's my husband, Paul.  This is what he says about himself.

"I'm Fred Flintstone in a George Jetson world."

Though he will take a brief look at his hometown newspaper's online version (just to make sure he isn't mentioned in the obituaries), he's really not very connected online.  He says he uses "Face-look", not "Facebook".  We have a shared data plan on our family's cell phones and he uses exactly 0 bytes of data each month.

So for Paul's benefit, there is a paper calendar on our bedroom wall so I can make sure he is informed of all the different things that are happening in our lives and the lives of our family members that might affect him or for which he needs to be praying.  The other day, I looked up at the November calendar and realized that I hadn't updated it since we turned to that page.  The month was completely blank.  At first, I thought I'd just add the things that were yet to come this month, but I like to be thorough and so I added even the events that had already happened. 

But what's the point of writing down what's already in the past?  Sometimes it's good to have a point of reference, such as knowing how long it has been since you last saw your doctor. Other times it's nice to look back and remember a pleasant event that you might have otherwise forgotten.  Someone might write a date on a calendar to mark the beginning of a goal or a decision such as the beginning of a diet plan or the last time they smoked a cigarette. 

Today was one of the kinds of Sunday morning services that should be written down and remembered. Though God is always present when we meet together, the Holy Spirit did some very special things when we were together today.  I keep a journal where I write about significant moments and days in my walk with God.  Sometimes He works in our lives in ways that are amazing, but time and failing memories can erase the importance of a moment.  When I am struggling with circumstances in my life, it helps me tremendously to go back and read about the ways God has intervened in my life in the past.  I "save the date" by creating my own small memorials in words to mark the day when I saw an answer to a prayer, when I was encouraged by a word from someone who was listening to the Holy Spirit on my behalf, or when I let God use me to bless someone else.

God likes us to remember those days as well.  All through the Bible, people remembered and reminded each other of the mighty deeds which God had done. The children of Israel built memorials of stone to remind them of what God had done for them.  Hearing and meditating on those things once more builds our faith and helps us trust Him for the future.  I encourage you today to begin to either keep a journal or at least a few sheets of paper in the back of your Bible to create a written memorial to go back to so you can encourage yourself in the Lord in a time when hope is difficult to find. 

Close Enough to Really Know Him

Even though my nest is now quite empty, I once had a typical American family set-up in my home.  I had a husband (and I still do, thankfully!).  I had the storybook set of children - a girl and a boy. They're still around too - they just have their own addresses now.

My daughter Nikki is 41 years old now and she and I kind of grew up together because I was a young single mother. She now lives 200 miles from me. I only see her once or twice a year and usually for only a very brief time when we do manage to get together.  I make a point of calling her every Tuesday evening on her day off and we get a little conversation - sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes 30, but a very short time in the course of our lives.

My son Josh is 30 and he lives only about 13 miles from me. Often he and his wife and daughter come and spend the night or even the entire weekend with us.  We've taken vacations together often over the past several years since we moved to Virginia.  When we're not in the same place, we often chat on Facebook about one thing or another.

I was thinking about how these relationships this week and it occurred to me that even though Nikki has known me longest, she knows me the least.  There's no criticism in that statement. Her life choices and mine have put us in different places geographically, but because of that, she has limited information about who I really am these days.   Unless I tell her over the phone, she has no idea what I am doing with my time, what I am planning or dreaming, or even what I'm thinking about her.

My son could do a bit better.  He's often with me on my little adventures or just my boring grocery trips.  He knows some secret plans I'm working on.  He's around enough for me to "tell him about himself" when I think he still needs some motherly correction.  I can tell him about a little household project that I need his help to complete and he'll do it without too much grumbling. 

Our relationship with God can be in both those places at different times in our lives.  Of course, we're never geographically far from Him.  He's as close as our breath.  However, we can put distance in the spirit between ourselves and where He is. 

When we are distant from Him, we don't know much about Him.  We don't know what His plans are for our lives or His kingdom.  We don't know the thoughts He has toward us and who He says we are.

When we're a little closer, we might get a glimpse of the Kingdom and what will unfold in the future.  We might get some direction on something that God wants us to do in service and we'll be obedient in following through.  We're close enough that the Holy Spirit can do some correction and speak into our lives.

Of course, there's an even deeper measure of intimacy we can have with our heavenly Father and if we pursue it, we can be even more in tune with where He wants to take us and what He wants us to do.  That's another level of being close - more like the closeness of a marriage, where two are living so close together that they can finish each other's sentences, anticipate each other's needs, and work together to achieve their dreams and goals.  When we walk that closely, the Holy Spirit can supernaturally partner with us to bring heaven to earth.  I'm not there yet.  I've had moments like that, but not nearly enough of them.  

If my daughter chose to move to Virginia to live closer to me, I'm sure we'd spend much more time together and our relationship would deepen.  Our son is trying to sell his house and his family will temporarily move into our home while they are looking for a larger house and we'll all have to adjust to living very close together.  I'm sure we'll know much more than we really want to about each other by the end of that experience!.  The difference in our knowledge of each other will be our proximity to each other.  I know that my proximity to God is not something that is His responsibility to cultivate - it's mine.  I can be as close to Him as I decide to be - and so can you.  

A Consistent Message

As some of you know, I am currently working on completing my first book. Though there is a lot of new material, much of the content comes from the blog posts I've been writing for almost two years.  You would think it would be easy to copy and paste articles from the blog to the working manuscript, but it hasn't proven to be quite that simple.  It's a constant battle of organizing and reorganizing, of making sure I haven't put the same essay in two different places, of correcting spelling errors or typos that I missed when I first published the blog, and of adjusting the language so that I'm not speaking in present tense about events that happened three years ago.  Whew!

What's really important to me is that people will really understand the theme of the book and that it will make a real difference in deepening and enriching their relationship with God.  I want to be clear and understandable, but above all biblical.

When I think that God used flawed people to get His Word to us in a book that stays on the best-seller list, I am assured He can help me put all the thoughts and lessons He has given me in a manageable form.  What a remarkably consistent message His book has!  He's loved us and wanted us from the beginning of time and He's provided a way for us to have a relationship with Him.  He's written us a love letter that has everything we need that pertains to life and godliness.

I hope you'll excuse this very brief post tonight, but I've been away for my fall break weekend, enjoying some time with my husband and spending long evenings in the hotel room putting the finishing touches on the message God has given me.  I'm proofreading all my words just as He proofreads me and makes course corrections as I walk through the pages of the book of my life.

I hope that tonight, you are allowing Him to do that in your life as well.  Please pray for the successful completion of this manuscript and that God will use it for his purposes. God bless!