Fantastic Faith!

Over the past few months the Lord has been teaching me about Faith. A friend pointed out that I have great faith in some things, but there are particular areas where my lack of faith really holds me back and I end up getting "stuck" in life. Do you have areas where there is consistent lack of faith? Is there an area in your life where you tend to doubt God's sovereignty, goodness, provision, or generosity? One usually doesn't have to think long before that area of weakness comes to mind. I don't know about you, but I would LOVE freedom from lack of faith. Abba Father, make us women of Faith who delight in you, who hide in you, who do not live through themselves but by you who lives in us!!!

God is so kind to give us a desire to be faithful and to have Faith in Him, in His promises, and in His Word. Yet, the mark of a believer is the frustrating realization of unbelief or lack of faith in their heart. I tend to think there is something "wrong" with me, but truly, that realization is a beautiful thing. There IS something wrong with me - it is my sinful nature at work in me. But, Praise be to God, as in Romans 7: 24, He has delivered me from the power of sin! He infuses His Holy Spirit in us and gives us His perfect nature, that He may work out the fruits of the Holy Spirit for us.

I just want to leave you with the most encouraging piece from a devotional called "God's Word for Today" by Hallesby. It was given to my parents in 1974 as a wedding gift from Pastor Johannson (sp?) of Trinity Lutheran Church of Minnehaha Falls, the church where my dad grew up. It is fantastic.

March 12
"I believe, yet help my unbelief!" Thus did this believing father cry out in his distress. And thus cries Faith in every time of need...Faith can never arise except where the the old self dies. The death of self and the birth of faith are inseperable. Since death is always painful, so is also the dying of the old self. There will always be an aspect of faith which is painful. A sinner cannot come to faith in Christ without at the same time losing faith in himself.

Faith, therefore is, to begin with, always a sorrowing, sighing, weeping, doubting faith. For the sinner does not see his faith; he sees only his unbelief...But that faith IS present, the rest of us can see without difficulty. We see it in a number of things. First and foremost that the sinner suffers as a result of his unbelief and prays for faith. At such a time faith is already fully active within him/her. For to believe is to come to Christ with you sins. He who keeps near the cross of Christ with all his sins believes, even though he cannot see his faith, only his unbelief.

Faith lives as long as it struggles.

Hear that, dear child of God, you who are restless so much of the time and never can get you faith to be as good as you desire it. Say as the man in our text did: "I believe, but help my unbelief!"