I caught myself several times this week praying almost absentmindedly, O Lord, what is Your way in all of this? I want the eyes of my heart to be fixed on Jesus, which means I frequently have to turn my gaze from media and the ways of man. Years ago, I met a lovely woman from Ukraine at a party. I asked her what differences she saw between the U.S. and Russia. She said, “In Russia we all knew that the news was full of propaganda. But in the U.S. people don’t seem to understand that–they think their news is true!”
Curiosity is a core value in my life. I try to walk in a peaceful, loving posture. But I need faith to live this life, don’t you? We all want to live our lives from a position of peace, love, and godly wisdom. We don’t want to just swallow what we are told so we use critical thinking. But there are spiritual dimensions to this life that worldly wisdom cannot fathom.
So, when my prayer returns over and over to Lord strengthen my faith, I think of Faith’s Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11 and 12. These are wonderful chapters to study this week. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6.
Faith looks like reward. When we diligently seek the face of the Lord, we are rewarded. We win His presence and peace, His instruction and revelation. Come on, it’s not even fair the inner reservoir we live from, because of Christ. All else pales in comparison to this.
Faith looks like rest. Faith trusts that even though we have no idea how it’s all gonna work out (fill in the blank here—pay our rent, fix our marriage, get healthy, heal our nation, and so on) we know that God sees and rewards with His goodness, favor, and most importantly His presence.
Faith looks like power. Hebrews describes the impact of faith in God’s people as,”…they through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of invaders.” Hebrews 11:33-34
Do we believe the goodness of God in our life? That is faith. We are exhorted to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2 If we can fix our eyes on Jesus and run with endurance no matter what is set before us, then we can experience the reward, the rest, and the power of life lived in Christ.
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