Dear Friends
What can I do to make myself look better, wittier, funnier, and wiser than the others in the room? How can I protect myself from every being embarrassed or find a way to always place the fault away from myself? How can I procrastinate long enough to get the best or easiest job? What can I do to make people envy me?
Those seem to be the questions on the minds of my young boys most of the day. And my greatest challenge is to teach them that they have it all backwards—-no matter what the NFL, NBA, Avengers, Spider Man, our most out spoken politicians and their best friends at school say.
And what can I tell them from personal experience, and based upon what He has taught me through scripture and personal experience, that they are seeing life backwards? How can I prove to them that if I am abandoned to Him that I can be totally confident that He WILL take care of me and fulfill the desires of my heart and fill that void within my soul? How do I prove to them that there is no need to be the “big noise” in the room?
I came to the omni-obvious fact, years ago, that no knows me better than Him. He knows the dangers and fears that plague me and steal my joy. Who can satisfy my deepest and most fundamental longings and hopes more than Him? He knows it all—-and He loves me. Oh for my sons to believe this!
When my mind is set upon Him, I rest and can appreciate whatever comes my way. But when my mind is set upon the storms that surround me, I am frantic and I wear the face of one weary of life. Such a countenance will never lead another soul to Jesus Christ—-there’s no excuse for it and I should hardly expect my boys to take up a Christian walk if my walk is so dreary and heavy-laden Yes, some days I will experience isolated sorrow and disappointment, but my life is supposed to be primarily one of joy! If it is not, it is only because I have chosen another source of comfort, protection and direction—- I have no one to blame but myself.
This life of joy is the by-product of FAITH. What is faith—really? Years ago, , when asked to define faith, a little boy in Sunday school responded, “It’s believing what you know isn’t true.” But when I think of faith, I recall what Hebrews presents, as examples of faith, and it is not simply holding onto a fairy tale or hoping that what we have imagined in our minds is true! Abel, the son of Adam and Eve had faith that his gift to God would be acceptable…..Noah had faith that God would protect his family and therefore obeyed God and built the ark…..Abraham had faith in God and therefore got up immediately when God spoke to him…….David had faith in God and thereby displayed a single-minded devotion throughout his life….
Faith is giving up my attempt to acquire or seize those things that I believe will fulfill the passions and cravings within me and placing my total confidence in His ability and willingness to give me the desires of my heart, and to work within me the miracle of redemption, sanctification and, one day, perfection.
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