Live by faith, not by sight: Impossible
I sat this morning in my “Cup of Hope” chair in the corner of my office, my heart felt sad, concerned, and heavy. I looked up and on the window sill sat a wooden sign.
The sign says, “Faith doesn’t make things easy, it makes things possible.”
Oh how my heart can relate to that.
Have you ever been through a season – whether short or long – that your world seemed to be falling apart? And you just long for “easy” days?
For the last two and half years, month by month, day by day, as a family we’ve come face to face with the reality of the frailty of human life. Life is frail, though masterfully designed. A frail life is not an easy life. Nor is a life built on faith.
There are days when I think my heart can’t handle much more. There are days when I’m surrounded by people and feel all alone. There are days when it seems the tears will never stop. And there are days when I feel numb, stuck and unsure. There are days when it’s hard to breathe from the weight of worry.
I have had countless conversations with myself about faith through all of this suffering, loss & sickness. There was a time in my past when I had convinced myself that if I just had enough faith then this suffering shouldn’t hurt the way that it does. If I just gave it over to God completely then I wouldn’t feel the ramifications of grieving, sadness and hurt.
And then, I read Job. And my thinking shifted.
Here’s what I know. Loss is loss. It hurts. It leaves a wound that only Jesus can heal through the balm of his love, tender mercy and compassion. Job, through his suffering and even the accusations of his friends, expresses the anguish and agony of all he went through.
Job didn’t pretend that he was not hurting, heart-aching, sad, angry and questioning God. But did that mean that Job had no faith?
As I read Job in relation to my own life, my own loss and suffering, I find that Job’s honesty about his heart’s condition, his honest questions, his crying out to God were the greatest demonstrations of his faith.
Through it all he didn’t give up on God. Through it all he didn’t abandon God. Through it all he kept the faith.
He trusted God with his worst and lowest points. He gave God his all.
So, here’s the real deal. I don’t share with you the sorrow of my heart for your sympathy. I do share with you the sorrow of my heart so that you can know you aren’t alone in your suffering. I share so you know you don’t have to pretend you’re not hurting. You don’t have to pretend that this season of life hasn’t been hard to walk through. You can admit there have been days when you long for “easy”.
What I’ve found in those lowest of low moments, being face to face with the frailty of life, is Jesus. In those face to face moments I’ve seen God clearer than any moment of my life. I’ve found the sustainer of my life, the one who gives breath and life.
Though I would never wish suffering on myself or anyone for that matter, I would never know Jesus the way I do without the low, no where else to turn, nothing to done but TRUST, HOPE and FAITH in the one who makes all things possible.
When there’s no place left to go, when hope is all that’s left and giving up isn’t an option, it’s only Jesus.
That wooden sign in my office has this reference, Luke 1:37, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
God can hold my heart. My heart, this life and suffering is not too big for him to handle. He can handle my questions. He can handle my outcry for help. If He can do it for me, He will surely do it for you.
On Monday’s Cup of Hope video, we began this week, living by faith & not by sight, talking about creations. In this video I shared, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” (Jeremiah 32:17)
I’m praying and asking, “God what it is that you want me to learn from all of this? I don’t want to miss out on an ounce of what you want to do in me, through me and for me.”
I believe that God has me focused this week on his creation, the beauty of life all around me to remind me of this very thing, “nothing is too hard for him.” Nothing is impossible for my GOD!
In the last two and half years, God has lifted my head as I say “YES, I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THAT NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU.” Despite what I see around me, despite the hurt my heart feels, I choose to trust you.
Faith is a choice. Choose to believe today amid the pain, amid the questions and amid the suffering.
Maybe your world feels like it’s falling apart at the seams. Maybe you’ve convinced yourself, or others have convinced you, that your faith is small because you still feel hurt? Maybe you’ve not allowed yourself to feel the hurt and call that faith?
Wherever you land on this spectrum of hurting and dealing with the suffering, may this blog today encourage you to know that it’s okay to feel the pain, it’s okay to admit you’re not okay. May you know that it’s okay to feel the sadness, and that feeling the pain doesn’t mean you don’t have faith. I believe it’s quite the opposite. The pain is the launching place that gets us to faith.
Whatever you and your family are facing, hold fast and hold tight to Jesus. He will lift you up. We can walk this road of living by faith and not by sight together, and reach greater levels of intimacy with our Father God as we do.
Through the dawn of a new day, the magnificence of a sunset, daily miracles, I don’t want to take for granted. Life is frail. Life on this earth is temporal. It’s only the beginning of what’s to come. God will use all that has transpired here and make it right. He will make all things new!
Father God, strengthen my brothers and sisters in faith to keep their eyes fixed on you. Lord, I pray that each one will allow the suffering of this life to produce a deeper level of faith and trust in you. God will you encourage the hearts of those who are suffering with sickness, loss, pain, heartache, broken relationships and marriages. I know that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU. You can take all that looks broken and mend it, make it new and restore all things. God, I give you my trust. I give you my confidence. I give you my heart. Bless each one in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
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