A Allowing God to lead me
I Instead of seeking my way
T Trusting His plan each day
H He is the same for eternity © Carol S. 24/01/11
Each day we all share our faith. When we venture outside, we show faith in the highway code as we don’t expect to have to deal with vehicles approaching us from an unexpected direction. Earlier today you switched on the kettle and had faith that you wouldn’t receive an electric shock but instead had faith that the water inside would start to warm up. None of us can live a single day without showing faith in something. If our faith in either of those examples were suddenly tested and we found things not as we expected them to be, we would soon be sharing our story with anyone who would listen.
Our Lent booklet sets us the task this week to share with someone our faith in Christ. This is something which many of us struggle to do. In the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, we are given a definition of what it means to have faith in God which may help us carry out this week’s ‘Action.’ Read: Hebrews 11: 1- 6
The chapter goes on for another 34 verses, listing more women and men who put their trust in God’s promises - people who recognised how God’s story affected their own story and strengthened their faith in ‘the living God who endures forever.’ People who knew that faith in God was being “sure of what we hope for,” and “certain of what we do not see” (v.1-2).
If someone you know well promises to give you on your birthday something you had longed to own, then the first thing you do – almost unconsciously, is to think about whether you consider them to be reliable - do they keep their promises? Assuming that you decide the person is reliable and does keep their promises, you can then start to live your life as though you already own this gift, even if your birthday is months away. You can be “sure of what you hope for,” and “certain of what you do not see.”
While it’s a trivial example, it explains the certainty, which is behind the bible’s use of the word FAITH whit is a response to what we know God has promised. Faith is trusting in God’s promise that we have received forgiveness for the sin we have committed and been given a new unending life, adopted as a child of God, an heir of his inexhaustible riches.
Faith is revealed through our actions. The faith we have in God’s story is revealed through our story and if we had continued reading ch.11 we’d see that the writer to the Hebrews gives many more examples of people who having heard God’s story, they were “sure of what they hope for,” and “certain of what they do not see,” and revealed this through their own story.
If you delve into the lives of the people listen in Hebrews ch.11 you find that while they are all united in the trust they have in God’s story, how they show that faith is unique to them – to their own situation and circumstances.
Two weeks ago, I mentioned Corrie ten Boom whose first 50 years of life were very uneventful, until the outbreak of the second World War when her family instinctively started to give a hiding place to Jews. But it was during those first 50 years of her life that she got to know her heavenly father in such a deep way so that when life-threatening situations arose, she knew that God wouldn’t let her down and why she could describe her faith in God, as Fantastic Adventures In Trusting Him.
It is unlikely that we will face similar situations to the ones faced by Corrie ten Boom, but her life and the lives of those listed in Hebrews 11 tell us time and time again that we can put our faith in God and he will not let us down, because ‘He is the living God who endures forever…’ Daniel 6: 26-27
In out Lent booklet, the action for this coming week challenges us to speak to someone about our faith in Jesus Christ. A starting point for fulfilling this would be to phone someone from church and have a conversation about how our faith in God can help you during lockdown.
Last Thursday in our Lent booklet we read how Jesus wants to be a good shepherd to each of us. Read these lyrics and think about what it means for you to put your faith in God and trust Jesus to guide you:
The Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want He makes me lie in pastures green.
He leads me by the still, still waters, His goodness restores my soul.
And I will trust in You alone, And I will trust in You alone,
for Your endless mercy follows me, Your goodness will lead me home.
(Stuart Townend © 1996 ThankYou Music)