Have faith

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Psalm 37:5-6     Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

Proverbs 3:5-6     Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He4 will make straight your paths.

Matthew 21:21,22     So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to this fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Mark 11:24     Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

John 14:14, 15     And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Hebrews 11:1, 6       Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. . . And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.

James 1:6    But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

 

Now isn’t that powerful? Initially, hearing these verses, I believed things would happen right away, my life would be changed, I would receive the desire of my heart. Presto!  Alla-kazam!   That did not always come about, and although many, in fact most, of what I’ve asked for over the years, has been given, not all has. And I realize, like any spoiled child, I’ve asked for things my Father may not have thought was good for me, or I was not ready to have it.

I’ve lost, misplaced many things that I cared about, or did not want to lose. There is only one that has not been returned. Some are found later, others have been found within several hours. In fact about a month ago, I lost the checks I was using. I had the register, but looking everywhere I could, I could not locate them. I got the next bunch of checks, disappointed that there would be a huge separation, but resigned I needed to pay bills that sometimes required a check to be written.

As I was writing one of the blogs, I opened one of my Bibles. (I normally keep three nearby, and check one or the other with a verse that is unclear to me, that I may have found in a devotional or elsewhere and want further clarification.) There sat the “lost” checks. I could do nothing except smile and thank Him for finding them and answering the questions of ‘what did I do with them, where did I lose them, how could I be so careless to lose them so totally within my own house…?’

But I asked, and He answered.  Even though it took a while, I had to smile, and thank Him; God does have a sense of humor!

It is not always on my time frame that answers come, but I have come to learn that as selfish as I am, God answers my prayers and requests in His time. I don’t always understand His timing, but I have come to learn it is delivered when it is best for me, and after I have PATIENTLY waited. I have learned to develop (some) patience and the development of that is a fruit from the Spirit.  Patience is a huge process for me–like hiking up Mt Washington–which I did a couple of centuries ago!

As we walk and trust Him further and further, we develop more of His fruits in our life. We resist our base impatience, selfishness, and need for immediate gratification which can get us into trouble.   We may start off with the idea we will trust Him for our answers and deliverance of what we have asked–but then may snatch it impatiently back and take matters into our own impatient hands for “immediate gratification” because we have decided we have waited  LONG ENOUGH!                                                                         

                                                                                                           

The growth of patience comes only when we continually trust Him and wait.  It seems to be a common human condition to feel entitled.  We have worked hard toward a goal, have achieved ‘time in grade’ and are now ready to receive what we feel we deserve.  And now is the time.  We are done waiting.  ‘After all, God, You have seen how hard I’ve worked, how I continue to study and improve my performance, I take on extra work, my work is so much better and more inclusive than ‘that guy’ and I have earned it.  I don’t know why You haven’t delivered it to me, but I’m moving ahead on it.’  That doesn’t always work out so well.  You may get that position, but another opportunity comes up a few weeks later which would much better suit you–the hours are better–no weekends, no holidays, no nights, and….you get the drift.  

Several years ago, I was responsible for the care of two homes–loved both, but felt worn caring for both and enjoying neither.  My patience was done, so I took matters into my own hands–did not turn to Him in trust and faith, and made my decision. 

The house sold very fast, within 2 days, and suddenly I was awash with trepidation and fear, anxiety and I knew I had made a wrong decision, yet did not know how to get out of it, change it, and just tried to convince myself it would all be fine.  But it didn’t feel fine–I hated what I had done, signing an agreement to sell just so I could be more settled with one and only that responsibility.

I had impatiently jumped to doing what I thought I wanted, and now had to pay the price–at a loss in several areas, for doing what I thought at the moment would make me happy.  Things eventually worked out–although I am still disappointed in the decision I made several years ago.  That will always be a regret, but God did turn my impetuous, free will CHOICE for the good.  I live in a great neighborhood, have wonderful friends and attend a loving and strong church, and have some of the best God designs to see our every window.   I will never make a decision again without consulting Him and waiting to hear from Him–patiently.  In His time He will show me the right path and direction.

Patience Zingers:

Patience is waiting without worrying.

The wonderful thing about patience is that it goes a long way, and yet the more we use it, the more we have.

Do not ask for fulfillment in your life but for patience to accept frustration.

I am thankful that He changed my mistake into a learning opportunity and turned it into a good experience albeit with consequences.  have learned to relinquish control and try to be patient. As Joyce Meyer is fond of saying, “I’m not where I want to be, but thank goodness, I am not where I used to be.”  It is a process, a growing time toward Him and what He wants for us.  My walk has been such a growth and development for ‘mybellaviews.’