Where Inspiration and Choice Meet

“Do you have enough faith?” I asked myself in the quietness of the dawn. On the road of life ahead of me stands a range of mountains to climb, challenges for which I have few natural resources.  The ministry I serve needs to grow, but only God can make the seed of the Gospel take root and bring a harvest.  People for whom I care are wrestling with spiritual, emotional, and physical issues that my love alone cannot heal! Is it enough to say, “I trust God” or does faith require more?  Where do God’s inspiration and my choice meet to see His will accomplished here in this world?   Presumption, my choice alone, insists that God must endorse all my plans and efforts  if I just believe enough!   But, without eyes to ‘see’ what is presently over the horizon, God’s inspiration, I will not live in a way that honors Him.

Real faith rests on the Person of God, not on me.  My question about having enough faith is really one that is wrongly shaped. Instead of trying to convince myself about the possibilities that exist, I need to spend time with the One who creates those possibilities. If my life becomes a frenzy of activity, if my prayers are one long scream – ‘Answer me, God!’ – faith will die.  The Psalm says we can rest on Him. "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” (Psalm 91:1-2, NIV)  Serenity comes from living under His shadow. Easy to say, isn’t it?  But, oh so much more difficult to do when pressured by life’s trials!

When we settle ourselves on the person of God, submitted to Him, waiting for Him, ‘letting God, be God,’ we are able to hear the voice of the Spirit – one that brings assurance, one that encourages, one that guides us today.  When we know the will of God, we can go forward regardless of opposition, lack of funds, or limitations with a holy confidence that He will give us everything we need to do His will.  James reminds us of the folly of presumption that looks like faith but is not.  "Look here, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit." How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that." (James 4:13-15, NLT)

Jeremiah taught about living in God’s care this way:  "I went to the potter’s house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel. Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot. Then God’s Message came to me: "Can’t I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?" God’s Decree! "Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you." (Jeremiah 18:3-6, The Message)   

Faith does not just say this , it acts on the reality that is unseen. God can do with us as He pleases.  He calls us into partnership with Him but does not make us god.   Jesus Christ taught consistently  that the choice of obedience is critical.   God allows us to resist His will, to walk away from His perfect plan OR to submit to Him and let Him shape us into a Masterpiece. Are you pliable in the hands of the Potter?  That, dear friend, is faith.   

Let God’s Word shape your understanding.  The word from the Word is a passage I love for what He declares.  No matter how many times I read it, it always inspires.  Read the truth slowly, savoring the revelation. "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:16-21, NIV)

Take my life, Lord, and use me. 
Lead me where You desire.
Keep me steady in trust equally in the storm and the sunshine, in winter and summer. 

To You be the glory.

In Jesus’ holy Name. Amen

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Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)

You call me out upon the waters,

The great unknown, where feet may fail;

And there I find You in the mystery,

In oceans deep, my faith will stand.

And I will call upon Your name,

And keep my eyes above the waves.

When oceans rise,

My soul will rest in Your embrace,

For I am Yours and You are mine.

Your grace abounds in deepest waters.

Your sov'reign hand will be my guide.

Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me

You've never failed and You won't start now.

Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders.

Let me walk upon the waters,

Wherever You would call me.

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior.

I will call upon Your name!

Keep my eyes above the waves!

My soul will rest in Your embrace,

I am Yours and You are mine.

Joel Houston | Matt Crocker | Salomon Ligthelm

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