Where do we find faith? Is it in the smell of the freshly cut grass? The feel of the coolness of the breeze as it passes over us? The sound of lawn mower? The person reading a book?
The leaves dancing in the wind? The brilliant green of the grass or the dazzling blue of the sky? When we look around us, what is it we see with not just our eyes, but our hearts, our hopes, our minds?
There are little signs of faith everywhere. We have faith that all these things will be here tomorrow. Yet, tomorrow isn’t promised to us. No, tomorrow is a concept we hold onto. It is something we choose to believe in even though we can’t see it.
We control this moment in time. Only this one. We can plan for the next and the one after that, but we have no real guarantee that it will be there for us. That is faith.
However, spiritual faith is more than all these things. Faith is not holding the hope that these things will be there tomorrow, but if tomorrow isn’t here, we will be with the Creator of these things.
God is a brilliant artist. He loves us and gave us a beautiful world filled with wonderful things. Yet, there are also awful things in the world. Too many attribute these to God as well.
He gave us a free will on how we will live our lives. He gives us the opportunity to surround ourselves with positives. Even in the midst of the negatives. We are a light set upon a hill. How brightly do you let your light shine? With all the things that are happening in the world around us, it is easy to lose sight of what is important.
It is easy to allow ourselves to forget the promises of God. It is easy to forget we are just travelers here. It is easy to forget that this is not our home, it is just the place we are passing through, allowing our light to shine and point others to the joy that is in a relationship with Christ.
Faith is the glue that holds us together when we are struggling; when we don’t understand what is happening in the world around us or even our own world. When my husband died, that pain in my heart was beyond allowing me to feel as if I could breath. It was my faith that carried me through.
Faith has carried me through all the difficult times in my life. My strong conviction that God truly is in control. It is not an easy path. It would be much simpler to just blame God for all my sorrows and troubles. It would seem easier to just curl up and let the world pass me by.
Easy isn’t in our vocabulary. The path we follow can be extremely difficult. History has shown us time and time again what type of persecution we can expect. People who don’t understand our relationship or who want to proclaim themselves god – above others. They are being lied to by the enemy, who is out to steal, kill and destroy.
Satan has been doing his job extremely well. Just look around at the world today and you can see it in almost every area of life. What kind of job are we doing? What kind of job am I doing? We are each responsible for not only our actions but our reactions in our lives. The way we deal with people, situations, troubles, burdens, etc.
I admit I don’t always handle situations in a manner that reflects well on my belief. Sometimes I just struggle with what is going on in my own little world, so much so that I lose focus. Happily, God remains on my side. He is faithful and just to forgive. I need forgiveness quite a bit.
None of us are perfect. We consistently fall short. We judge ourselves harshly and sometimes we judge others even more harshly. We need to find the balance in our lives. The Bible tells us to ‘judge not lest we be judged’ and ‘he who is without sin cast the first stone’. These are just gentle reminders that we are all sinners and fall short.
We live in a toxic environment; separated by politics, race, religion, and more. How do we change this pattern? We need to seek God’s wisdom. We need to not fall victim to the ideals of the world and find the seed of truth that God wants us to grow.
There is a truth that is buried in all our hearts – the value of a relationship with Christ. The connection that if we can make it, simply by asking Him into our lives and hearts, we will be able to learn to rise above differences and realize that we are equal in Him. That what the world says separates us, isn’t a truth. We aren’t separated by the color of our skin, we are only taught and told that, we choose what we believe.
We need to not allow ourselves to continue to be influenced by the world around us. We need instead, to influence the people in the world around us. Be that beacon of truth. Be strong in our faith and in who we are. Know who we are in Christ and believe in that relationship.
Faith is what helps to keep us on the right path, but faith without works is dead. We can’t just say we have faith, we need to act on it.
Will you do that today? After all, today may be all you have.