Having FAITH One Year Later
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One year ago today, we drove into southeastern Montana. If you have not read about our move, you can read it HERE. We came on FAITH. No place to live and technically no job until an employment drug test was taken; BIG OL' STEP OF FAITH, I tell ya. But, the Lord provided in his time which was perfect timing for us even though we did not completely understand when he was going to work things out.
Not a lot has happened since we moved here. The excitement finally wore off and our lives are back to normal; a little different for this area but normal. When I think about the monstrous step we took, it fades in comparison to Daniel and Esther in the Bible. Daniel's step of faith when he asked to be fed vegetables and water for ten days and the prayers he prayed when he was older. I mean, who can change a king's orders? Think about it for a moment. He was asking a man in charge to put his neck on the line for him over a plate of food. When he opened his window to pray, he was just asking for problems from those who were out to get him, but he had FAITH. Then there is Esther; she had not only her life but all the lives of the children of Israel resting on her shoulders when she walked in to see the king. She knew if he did not accept her presence, she would be killed. Esther went anyway because she had FAITH.
Having complete FAITH in God for everything is hard. It is not easy and anyone who says it is, well let's just say there is a name for them. I am being TOTALLY HONEST here, if I hear a preacher or a speaker say it is easy to live on FAITH; they lost me. I tune them out or turn them off, because living by FAITH is not easy. If I read an article or a book and it is saying how easy it is, I click off or close it because it is not easy. It's in our nature to worry about how things are going to work out. It's in our nature to try to take the reins of our life to make sense of things. Having FAITH is not easy.
Anyone who is HONEST will admit it is hard to watch other people be on the receiving end of God's grace and mercy when you are at a low point in your life. You wonder why it seems like everyone else is getting the GOOD STUFF ALL -THE - TIME while you are puttering around life waiting for good things to happen to you. In all reality, we all have good things happening to us EVERYDAY we live. If you are able to get up out of bed in the morning, that's a good thing. If you can breathe on your own, that's a good thing. If you and/or your husband has a job to go to every day, that's a good thing. If there is food in the kitchen, that's a good thing. If you have a house and not sleeping in a cardboard box on the road, that's a good thing. If you have a vehicle and are not depending on others or a bicycle, lawn mower or mule to get to town, that's a good thing.
We can count many things that are given to us daily if we just think about it. Yes, these things may be little but when we contemplate the little things while we are waiting on the BIG things, it is much easier for us to do.
I remember hearing the phrase "handfuls of purpose" when I taught school. The administrator prayed that each of us would receive "handfuls of purpose" to help our days go smoothly. There were days, when I wondered if my handful was sent next door, but then there were days when I would receive more than one handful. Since our move, the thought about handfuls of purpose came across my mind several times; because of this, I pray we receive handfuls of purpose to help keep our FAITH strong in the Lord.
Not a lot has happened since we moved here. The excitement finally wore off and our lives are back to normal; a little different for this area but normal. When I think about the monstrous step we took, it fades in comparison to Daniel and Esther in the Bible. Daniel's step of faith when he asked to be fed vegetables and water for ten days and the prayers he prayed when he was older. I mean, who can change a king's orders? Think about it for a moment. He was asking a man in charge to put his neck on the line for him over a plate of food. When he opened his window to pray, he was just asking for problems from those who were out to get him, but he had FAITH. Then there is Esther; she had not only her life but all the lives of the children of Israel resting on her shoulders when she walked in to see the king. She knew if he did not accept her presence, she would be killed. Esther went anyway because she had FAITH.
Having complete FAITH in God for everything is hard. It is not easy and anyone who says it is, well let's just say there is a name for them. I am being TOTALLY HONEST here, if I hear a preacher or a speaker say it is easy to live on FAITH; they lost me. I tune them out or turn them off, because living by FAITH is not easy. If I read an article or a book and it is saying how easy it is, I click off or close it because it is not easy. It's in our nature to worry about how things are going to work out. It's in our nature to try to take the reins of our life to make sense of things. Having FAITH is not easy.
Anyone who is HONEST will admit it is hard to watch other people be on the receiving end of God's grace and mercy when you are at a low point in your life. You wonder why it seems like everyone else is getting the GOOD STUFF ALL -THE - TIME while you are puttering around life waiting for good things to happen to you. In all reality, we all have good things happening to us EVERYDAY we live. If you are able to get up out of bed in the morning, that's a good thing. If you can breathe on your own, that's a good thing. If you and/or your husband has a job to go to every day, that's a good thing. If there is food in the kitchen, that's a good thing. If you have a house and not sleeping in a cardboard box on the road, that's a good thing. If you have a vehicle and are not depending on others or a bicycle, lawn mower or mule to get to town, that's a good thing.
We can count many things that are given to us daily if we just think about it. Yes, these things may be little but when we contemplate the little things while we are waiting on the BIG things, it is much easier for us to do.
I remember hearing the phrase "handfuls of purpose" when I taught school. The administrator prayed that each of us would receive "handfuls of purpose" to help our days go smoothly. There were days, when I wondered if my handful was sent next door, but then there were days when I would receive more than one handful. Since our move, the thought about handfuls of purpose came across my mind several times; because of this, I pray we receive handfuls of purpose to help keep our FAITH strong in the Lord.
