We all exercise it multiple times a day, every day. No matter to what "brand" of belief we subscribe or even if we claim no "belief" in anything.
We have faith that when we get out of bed in the morning, the floor won't fall through, that when we flip that switch, the light will come on.
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) describes faith like this: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Another version says it's the assurance and conviction. This is my favorite, (NIV) "Now faith is the confidence of what we hope for and the assurance of what we have not seen." This is one of the only scriptures I ever remember my father making a big deal that I memorize. It was confusing to me, but finally I understood, that faith is being sure of what's not there, of something that hasn't happened yet, of something we cannot see.
Believing that somehow, someway, someONE will make a thing come to pass. Our faith in those things mentioned above are easy. I often wonder why we fully trust that the car will start when we turn the key, but not so much that God will provide what we need.
I think it's because we feel like we have some control over those other things. If the light doesn't come on, we change the bulb or have the electrician check the wiring. If the car doesn't start, we check the battery or call the mechanic. Somehow we feel that those are things we can fix, we can control.
When the bills come in and the bank says there's not enough to cover them, when the doctor says the news is bad, then we feel completely out of control. And instead of exercising that faith spoken of in Hebrews 11:1, we panic. We start stressing and worrying.
Okay, that's what I do anyway. Then I get mad at myself. Then God puts me in situations where I have no choice but to trust Him, to work my atrophied faith muscles and shows me just how much energy I waste on worrying.
This past weekend I went on a work trip with my husband. He was going to be in a conference for three days in Nashville so I went along with him. I thought, "It'll be fun! I can walk pretty much anywhere and just check out the city."
This is where I let you in on the fact that I am so NOT a city girl. I was raised where the roads are gravel and driving around the shopping center parking lot was referred to as "cruising". And I'm not big on driving. I can, I just don't prefer to do it and most of the time, I don't have to. If it weren't for my small town "growing up" around me, I probably wouldn't be able to drive around here now. I seldom drive by myself any distance further than about 30 miles and maybe three times total in a bigger city.
But I didn't think I'd have to drive at all in Nashville. Then we realized that my husband's last session wouldn't be over until after 5 p. m. and check out time at the hotel was 11 a. m.
Umm...yeeeahhhh.
Since we had walked some around the four or so blocks surrounding our hotel, I felt familiar enough so I maneuvered our big pick-up truck out of the parking garage and down a couple of blocks to find a place to grab some lunch. I had to find and pay for parking, then walk to the place I'd chosen for lunch but just after I got my food, I noticed the place got really busy. I mean, REALLY busy!
By the time I had leisurely eaten my food, visited the ladies' room and walked back outside, the street was a madhouse and the panic set in. There were big trucks making deliveries parked in every spare spot and some had created 'spots' to park, and then just regular through traffic had increased exponentially! This was NOT what I had bargained for when I'd got all brave and driven down there less than an hour ago.
I went back to the truck and started worrying if I had enough parking time left to just sit there til traffic thinned some and the more I looked at that motorized mess, the more I panicked. I texted my dear friends (most of them from this very blog!) and asked them to pray for me and then some frantic texts to my kids asking them for the same. I needed peace, clarity and strength to deal with this situation.
I needed FAITH in The One Who can do ALL THINGS. Philippians 4:13
As I sat there, knowing my friends and children were praying for me and sending me encouraging messages, I began to feel the comfort of that knowledge seep into the cab of the truck, into my mind, my tense neck and shoulders, my throbbing head, churning stomach and pounding heart. I began to feel the presence of God, HIS strength, and HIS peace. And soon, quite awhile before my parking time was up, I started to feel confident that with Christ's help, I could indeed drive out of here and all the way across town, to an area I had never been to before, to a park I had looked up online.
Don't get me wrong, my body was still sending me those panic messages... my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest and the tension creeped back into my shoulders and neck, but I never felt consumed by any of that the way I had earlier. Soon, I found myself at my destination, in spite of having had to take alternate routes a few times because of construction and I pulled into the perfect parking spot in the shade of a tree. It was a hot day, so those spots were few, but there was that one just waiting for me. I knew God was in that, too.
As I sat there, wondering how I was going to pass another 4-5 hours waiting for my husband's conference to end, I began to recall the other times God has held me in the palm of His hand and the power of His peace.
It was just a surreal moment to realize that was happening, after 40 years of depending on insulin to metabolize my food? Now I didn't need it for a couple of days? There was NO other explanation than that God was in it. If that doesn't boost your faith, nothing will. Was I devastated when I had to resume the insulin? No. I didn't know why God would heal me for that brief period of time other than to give me THIS testimony. To give me this faith in Him and the prayers of His people. I have learned, yes, the hard way, but I've finally learned, not to question things in life. Even though sometimes it takes me awhile to do it, I've learned to just let go of things and trust that He is working SOMEthing out for my good. I may not understand how the thing (having part of my foot cut off, skin graft surgery, months on crutches) could possibly be good for me, but I have found a great peace in just trusting that no matter how bad the storm looks, God has a purpose for it and in the end, it will benefit me somehow.
But like I said, sometimes it takes me awhile to remember that. And honestly? I think that is why He put me in the middle of that crazy lunch rush hour in Nashville. To remind me of how amazing life is when I just hand Him the keys and let Him drive.
Romans 8:28 (ESV)- "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
Read Hebrews 11.
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