Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1 NLT)
For we live by believing and not by seeing. (2 Corinthians 5:7 NLT)
For some people, faith comes easily. Faith is a precious gift that some people are blessed with. Other people learn to have faith. I wish I could say I was the first person, but I'm not. By the way I live you might think that'd be the case but instead, my case is one of obedience. I have to pray for faith constantly and be reminded of the promises God has given us.
In a world where we are able to see and get immediate results and see the products of our labor after hard work, it can sometimes be hard to believe in something we cannot see. Not that I feel believing in God is hard but sometimes believing his promises will happen is hard. For example, I get easily discouraged about our ministry not looking the way I thought it would (ridiculous, I know) and I start believing all these lies which lead me to think we will never succeed and I go down this endless spiral of despair before I finally realize that dad-gum it, I've believed satan's lies again and haven't had faith in God and what He's promised. It's funny because I can spend anywhere from a couple hours to a couple weeks in this despair spiral but one prayer re announcing my faith in Him will rejuvenate me in seconds. A very wise man (Pastor Doug White) once said, "five minutes with God can fix a lifetime of despair." I can't even explain how much truth to this statement there is.
My dad reminded me recently of something I said to him when I was a little girl. I said, "daddy, I don't know why you worry all the time. God always fixes everything in the end anyway." This made me chuckle a little because a) it sounds just like me and b) I need to listen to my own advice.
If we can just keep God in our focus and our faith in Him strong, life is much easier. No we cannot see it or Him and sometimes we cannot see the fruit right away but we do have His word as evidence that God loves us and will not forsake us.
Look back over the times in your life when you KNEW God's hand was on you. Times when you knew He was protecting you. Ask Him how He felt about you at those times and hold His words close to your heart. Write them down in a journal and look back at them when you get discouraged.
Have faith in him and continue to hope for what He has in your future.
For we live by believing and not by seeing. (2 Corinthians 5:7 NLT)
For some people, faith comes easily. Faith is a precious gift that some people are blessed with. Other people learn to have faith. I wish I could say I was the first person, but I'm not. By the way I live you might think that'd be the case but instead, my case is one of obedience. I have to pray for faith constantly and be reminded of the promises God has given us.
In a world where we are able to see and get immediate results and see the products of our labor after hard work, it can sometimes be hard to believe in something we cannot see. Not that I feel believing in God is hard but sometimes believing his promises will happen is hard. For example, I get easily discouraged about our ministry not looking the way I thought it would (ridiculous, I know) and I start believing all these lies which lead me to think we will never succeed and I go down this endless spiral of despair before I finally realize that dad-gum it, I've believed satan's lies again and haven't had faith in God and what He's promised. It's funny because I can spend anywhere from a couple hours to a couple weeks in this despair spiral but one prayer re announcing my faith in Him will rejuvenate me in seconds. A very wise man (Pastor Doug White) once said, "five minutes with God can fix a lifetime of despair." I can't even explain how much truth to this statement there is.
My dad reminded me recently of something I said to him when I was a little girl. I said, "daddy, I don't know why you worry all the time. God always fixes everything in the end anyway." This made me chuckle a little because a) it sounds just like me and b) I need to listen to my own advice.
If we can just keep God in our focus and our faith in Him strong, life is much easier. No we cannot see it or Him and sometimes we cannot see the fruit right away but we do have His word as evidence that God loves us and will not forsake us.
Look back over the times in your life when you KNEW God's hand was on you. Times when you knew He was protecting you. Ask Him how He felt about you at those times and hold His words close to your heart. Write them down in a journal and look back at them when you get discouraged.
Have faith in him and continue to hope for what He has in your future.
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