"Well, I've gotta have faith, faith, faith." (Yes, I just quoted a line from a George Michael song. I can't believe I did it myself, but it seemed appropriate! Please forgive me.)
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). If there is any word that is resonating with me right now it is faith. You see, because I stink at it! I have faith when it is easy to have faith. My faith in God is at its best in the midst of blessing. It seems as if when I read of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, I tend to highlight the successes that these heroes were a part of...Enoch being taken up, Noah being saved, Abraham and Sarah conceiving Isaac, Moses rescuing the Israelites, etc.
What I seem to skip over verses 36-38: others experience mockings, scourgings, imprisonment, stoned, sawn in two, death by the sword, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves. I forget that faith involves vulnerability. The product of a faithful life is not earthly success, church growth, financial stability. It is Godly character. It is the hope that regardless of the earthly circumstances there is an eternity with the Almighty. It is realizing that although I have not seen God, that one day I will. Furthermore, it is passing this hope along to others. It is infecting them with the Faith Virus, so that it infiltrates every part of a person's being, regardless of the circumstances.
As I write this it is hard to escape the thought that I want Resonance to grow not only spiritually but numerically. I want to influence and infect many with the Gospel. However, I must continue to remind myself that this is a difficult journey. It is a long journey. This journey does not promise "success" (whatever that really is). However, what this journey does promise is a faith that produces Godly character. Therefore, I rely on the All-Powerful, Never-Changing God of the Universe to meet me not only in victory, but also sit with me in my frailty.
Lord give me the faith that is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen even when I must walk through Hebrews 11:36-38.
Thursday, October 16, 2003