Thursday, July 13, 2017, 4:11 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “His Tender Mercies.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read several scriptures (in the ESV) on the subject of
faith.
Be Not Anxious
(Matthew 6:25-34)
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your
life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you
will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look
at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And
which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And
why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the
field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not
much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious,
saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows
that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
I think it is human nature to
want to know the end from the beginning of a situation before we will venture
into that area. It can be, in the natural, a fearful thing to step out into the
unknown, not knowing what lies ahead or how things are going to come together. Yet,
when we walk by faith, we learn to trust the Lord in all things, and we believe
him to work it all out according to his plans and his purposes.
In the natural, so many
things could go wrong, and our plans could fall apart. But, when we are being
led by the Lord, and he is the one directing our paths, he will go before us,
and he will prepare the way for us. This is not saying we will never face
obstacles, but that God is completely sovereign (in control), and that he will
work all things out for the good of those who love him; who have been called
according to his purposes.
So, we learn to trust him,
and to rest in him, and to believe him to supply all that we need for what he
has called us to do. And, so we inquire of him to know what we are to do, where
we are to go, and what we are to say. We do what he says, and then we leave the
results in his hands. We follow him and his lead in our lives, and we trust
him, too, with the people in our lives.
Of Little Faith
(Matthew 8:23-27)
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed
him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was
being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him,
saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you
afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is
this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
When we follow the Lord in
obedience, it does not mean it will always be “smooth sailing.” Sometimes we
will face storms, i.e. difficult and troubling situations which shake us, and
which may be life threatening, as well. And, it may seem to us that God is
asleep on the job, and that he is not paying attention to what is going on in
our lives. But, he is still sovereign (in control), and he has it handled.
Nothing escapes his notice. He has a plan and a purpose for it all, and he will
see us through any and every situation.
So, we should not let the
storms of life unsettle us or to make us feel as though there is no recourse or
that there is no hope. We must be steadfast in hope and in faith no matter our
circumstances. Walking by faith often means that we don’t know what lies before
us, and how things are all going to work out. But, when we know God is in it,
we have to know that he will make a way where there seems to be no way.
Why Do You Doubt? (Matthew 14:22-33)
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat
and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after
he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way
from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the
fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the
disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a
ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them,
saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command
me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat
and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was
afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately
reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little
faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And
those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Sometimes, when things get
particularly bad, which they will sometimes, we lose sight of Jesus and we get
lost in the details of what we are going through. And, that is when we begin to
fear and to fret. And, that is because we are looking at the circumstances and
we are focusing on them rather than focusing on the God who is sovereign (in
control) over our circumstances. So, we may begin to listen to the lies of
Satan, instead, and begin to think that God can do nothing about what we are
going through.
And, even though Jesus is
right there with us in our circumstances, we may not recognize him, and so our
hearts may begin to sink. And, when we cry out to him, he reveals himself to
us, and he shows us how he is there. Sometimes it isn’t just that he is there
with us through our trials, though, but that he is the one initiating the
trials in our lives, because he has a plan and a purpose for them to mature us,
to get us to rely on him and not on ourselves, and to teach us patience and
endurance.
We might, at times, step out
in faith, and be walking with the Lord in obedience, and then along the way get
sidetracked by troubles or hardships and forget that our Lord is in control.
And, then we begin to drown in our difficult circumstances because we took our
eyes off Jesus. So, we need to refocus our attention on Jesus, be renewed in
our faith, and keep going forward, even when we don’t know what lies ahead. We
must walk by faith and not by sight, believing God to do his work in our lives,
and in the lives of those we love, even if we don’t see yet what has been
promised.
His Tender Mercies / An Original Work / January 26, 2014
Fear not! I’m with you.
Be not dismayed!
God watches o’er you.
Trust Him today.
He’ll lead and guide you;
Give you His aid.
He’ll love and keep you
With Him always.
Walk in His footsteps.
He’ll lead the way.
Trust in His love;
Believe that He cares.
He will not leave you.
Faithful He’ll be.
His tender mercies
Now you will see.
Fellowship with Him
Throughout the day.
Tell Him your heartaches.
He’ll heal always.
Rest in His comfort.
He is your friend.
Your faith He’ll strengthen,
True to the end.
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