It's a 'faith thing'

She’s only 6 and her question to me was, “I want Jesus to live in my heart. How can I know He is there?” Exploring the subject of knowing God’s Presence with a child is fun! I told her it was a ‘faith thing.’ Her little eyes told me that wasn’t enough, so I asked her if her Mom had any cans of food in their kitchen. Of course they did, so I followed up by asking her about what you find inside a can that is marked ‘corn.’ You don’t find green beans, right? She giggled. The thought of beans in a can of corn was silly. Even she knows that she can have ‘faith’ that the can holds what the label says. It’s not a perfect illustration, but it’s a start to help a child understand the concept of trusting God.

We all practice faith in hundreds of ways every day. We flip the light switch fully expecting the lights to come on, even though we can’t see the electricity flowing into our homes. We put our money in the bank with faith that we will get it back. We say, “I do,” to the person we love, believing they will keep the covenant. In each situation, our faith could be disappointed because it is not a perfect world. But when it comes to the promise of the Presence of God, there is no possibility of failure! Ah, but that does not mean that He will exempt those who love Him from walking through valleys, deep and dark. He does say, "I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20, The Message)

There is something that little disciple will come to know all too soon. There is one thing that will certainly drive her to the arms of the Savior; suffering! She will, as she matures, discover that there is pain in life. People fail to keep their promises. Bodies break down with age and/or disease. Plans unravel when circumstances beyond our control or anticipation intrude. Unexplained sorrows are part of the human experience. In those times she will have the choice, as each of us does, to trust God more deeply and find the comfort of His Spirit. The Word says that our suffering in this sin-broken world, creates an opening for God’s grace to pour into us. "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:1-5, NIV)

Are you asking, “How can I know He’s there?” Has the pressure of life made you wonder if God has abandoned you? He has not! Sometimes our walk with Him is a ‘faith thing!’ We trust Him, even when we cannot see what He’s doing or even sense that He is there. "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." (Hebrews 11:1, NLT)

Here’s a word from the Lament of Jeremiah. Jerusalem was destroyed. The Temple was rubble. The people of the Lord were captives of a pagan nation. The prophet’s heart was broken and it seemed, to every appearance, that the Lord God had utterly forsaken him. May his faith inspire more in us.
"But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope: God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God.

It’s a good thing when you’re young to stick it out through the hard times.


When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst.

Why? Because the Master won’t ever walk out and fail to return." (Lamentations 3:21-31, The Message)

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Natalie Grant sings "Held"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-hJ87ApWtw

Two months is too little, they let him go
They had no sudden healing
To think that providence
Would take a child from his mother
While she prays, is appalling

Who told us we’d be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
We’re asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it’s unfair

This is what it means to be held
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive

This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held

This hand is bitterness, We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held

If hope if born of suffering, If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait for one hour
Watching for our Savior

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive

This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held

Held – Christa Wells
Performed by Natalie Grant