Faithfulness
Monday
Have a little Faith in me.
I don't know if you need it but I do. I need to know someone believes in me. I need to know someone will stand by me. I need to know that wherever I go and whatever mistakes I make that someone has faith in me.
Believe I can do it when I don't believe I can.
Believe I am worth it when I don't see my value.
Believe I deserve love when I can't earn it.
Believe I can do right when all I do is wrong.
Believe I have strength when I only feel weak.
Believe I have courage when all I feel is fear.
Believe I am forgivable when I can't forgive.
Believe I am worth the sacrifice He made when I can't find the faith to believe I am.
I don't know if you need it but I do. I need to know someone believes in me. I need to know someone will stand by me. I need to know that wherever I go and whatever mistakes I make that someone has faith in me.
Believe I can do it when I don't believe I can.
Believe I am worth it when I don't see my value.
Believe I deserve love when I can't earn it.
Believe I can do right when all I do is wrong.
Believe I have strength when I only feel weak.
Believe I have courage when all I feel is fear.
Believe I am forgivable when I can't forgive.
Believe I am worth the sacrifice He made when I can't find the faith to believe I am.
On more than one occasion I have had conversations with people that were in the process of finding faith. Many have more in common than you may think. Most have the same insecurities. More than you realize don't believe they are worth the love God wants to give them. Too many are trying to make up for what they have done by attempting to earn their salvation.
Grace is a hard gift to grasp if you don't believe anyone should love you.
What does this all have to do with Faithfulness? As a believer in the Savior Jesus Christ, I know the sacrifice (John 3:16-17) that was made for me. I know my God is faithful (Psalm 100) and even when I am weak (Romans 7:14-25) He will pick me up. I have faith and in response to God's grace, I am faithful. Not just faithful to Him but to all of His creation.
Let me be honest here, I like your bumper stickers and your Jesus pins but how is your faith being lived out in your life. People need you, a follower of Christ, to step out and be faithful to all of humanity. No matter how much it may hurt. People need you to believe in them before they can believe in themselves or have faith in a God that they can't see. We all need someone to tell us we are worthy of the sacrifice before we believe it ourselves.
It wasn't that long ago that someone was faithful to me. Loved me, believed in me and took all the hurt I could throw at them. I disappointed and fell short of every expectation. I wasn't there when I should have been and I couldn't love back the way they deserved to be loved. Still, they believed in me. This was one of the first Christians I knew and they saved my life.
Be willing to give of yourself, faithfully, to someone that may reject you. In God's eyes they are just as worthy of His love as you are. This means stepping out of your boundaries, be vulnerable and be prepared for sacrifice.
Hard Shell (Family Challange)
Keeping with the whole fruit thing, this week pick out something with a hard shell on it to eat while discussing faithfulness. Maybe a coconut or pineapple. This will make a good example about how sometimes it is hard to keep our promises to people, but when we do we get to enjoy the fruit of our hard work.
Faithfulness starts with learning to keep our promises. Talk to your children about their promises. If they have siblings remind them that by being a brother or sister that they promise love and kindness to each other every day. If they have pets; talk about the responsibility they have to feed and care for their animal. Their pet relies on their faithfulness to survive. Talk about the importance of good friendship and being an honest and trustworthy person.
Don't forget to talk about the promises God keeps to us........
And remember that you are the example of Faithfulness to your children. Do you keep your promises? Do you believe in them when the rest of the world doesn't?
October 22, 2008 at 9:13 AM
WONDERFUL BLOG ANGELA...I REALLY ENJOYED READING IT!!!
October 22, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Milissa,
Thank you for being a faithful reader :)
October 28, 2008 at 8:29 PM
Can you tell I just talk too much Angela??? Or that I just seldom ever have a conversation above a 9 year old level? And you wonder why Nick threatens to kick me and Farah outta church for talking too much now??? I CRAVE adult interaction and conversation...I LOVE my kids, but every now and then it's nice to talk to an ADULT! *LOL*
But I heard something today that was so profound to me I just wanted to share with everyone on here about how Faithful God really is to us. It's really simply put, but man it spoke volumes to me. And I think it's gonna even be our own family motto.
"GOD WILL NEVER TAKE ME TO, WHAT HE CAN'T TAKE ME THROUGH"
If we'd just concentrate more on HIS FAITHFULNESS towards us....man how much better off we'd all be. Sometimes I feel like He's forgotten all about me and my situation, He doesn't hear my prayers, He's left me here all alone.....and then I hear the statement like the one above and I realize it's not HIM that's left...maybe it's ME who's lost the Faith, NOT HIM at all.
Faithfullness is hardest to have in your darkest moment, during your greatest difficulty, during a time in your life when you feel you have nothing left to lose.....but then stop for a moment and remind yourself that....GOD WILL NEVER TAKE YOU TO WHAT HE CANT TAKE YOU THROUGH!!!!!
October 30, 2008 at 8:52 AM
Milissa, I read your post after we got home from small group last night. I don't think you talk too much, at least not on the blog :)
I think it is hard to take responsibility for our lack of faith. It is certainly easier to say that God leaves us to struggle on our own. The more I grow in my own faith, I know it is me, not God that can't see the end of the tunnel.
I don't know that I believe God puts every bad thing in our lives, but I know that when the tough times come that He stands beside us. I love the scriptures in Romans 8.
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:39 ..neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May I recommend reading all of the promises in between. As my faith grows, I am learning to rely more and more on the promises in His Word and less and less on my own. When I focus on His Glory, things don't seem so big and overwhelming.
John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
I love that my idenity in Christ calls me a coqueror and overcomer.