I’ll tell you what, I’ve been struggling (as evidenced by my last two posts), with thinking about anything other than the election. It’s wormed its way into every thought and conversation (unless I’m talking to the kids), and has effected my mood and overall demeanor. And you know what?
It needs to stop.
I told you I was trying to think about rainbows and kittens yesterday, but, truthfully, I wasn’t very successful. This morning I sat in front of this screen for a good 20 minutes trying to think about something – ANYTHING – else to write about, and couldn’t. Then I got a notification on my phone that my “On this Day” was available on Facebook, so I looked at it. And there, from three years ago, was the following. Those of you who are not on Facebook, or didn’t follow my posts back then, will not have read this. It’s EXACTLY what I needed to read this morning, and may be just the right thing for you, too. We’ve got to shift our perspective from sinking sand to Solid Rock. The rubber has met the road.
Faith. We use that word a lot. “I have faith in you.” “You’ve just got to have faith.” Really, we could easily change that word out in those sentences with “believe.” However, while faith and belief go hand in hand, they are not the same. Faith is belief that’s defined by an action, and usually, it comes as a response to hardship, challenge, or suffering. You can believe all you want, but until it’s been tested, you don’t really know for sure if you’ll act on it…step out in it…trust it beyond what you can see.
I’ve been a Christian for a long time. I’ve professed and taught and believed, feeling that my faith was solid. Then, one day, out of nowhere, I was blindsided by an event that required extreme faith. Completely beyond my control, it required trusting God with one of my most cherished gifts in a way I never had…in a way that could go completely differently from how I thought it should go at the time. The rubber of my faith met the road. And honestly, after all the years of belief, I wasn’t sure I could have faith. In that moment I understood the difference between the two, and realized that belief alone wasn’t enough. Ultimately, after a lot of prayer (yelling, demanding, crying out), reading what I had underlined in my Bible during the easy-to-believe times, and soul-searching, I came to a place where faith was possible, because I realized that while I had only believed, the Lord had always been faithful. While I had surfed the fluctuating tide of trust, He had always remained as steady rock. So, I handed my precious gift over and stepped out, feet shaking, in faith. True, real faith. Belief + action.
Thankfully, since that time, there has been a shift in me, a hope that the next wave of hardship (and it WILL come) will be met with a little less questioning and less hesitant feet. It will be met with what I hope will be a determination to stand more and more firm, and instead of belief for a moment, it will be faith for a lifetime.
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 NIV
“On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand” From hymn (My Hope is Built on Nothing Less) based on Matthew 7:24-29
This post is powerful! There are many times when I go around saying, over and over, I live by faith not by sight!!
Amen. Let it be so. Always. Hind feet on high places.
Palm fronds and blessings, Lisa