Faith Without a Doubt

It’s been a fascinating 10 days since I published my post, “A Call to Prayer.  You can find it here. There have been many skirmishes and one major all out attack, but the overarching strategy is to get me to doubt.  Here are some examples:

• Why would God talk to you?
• Your reputation is on the line.  Don’t you think you should back down a little?
• You were praying for a specific date before, and look what happened then.
• You can’t trust the people you’re dealing with. How do you know the birth mother won’t change her mind?
• Your husband’s reputation is on the line.  You’re both going to end up looking like fools.
• Isn’t your blog just really an attempt to get attention?
• You can’t trust God.

Really the list of lies swimming through my head could go on and on and on and on. And it’s difficult sometimes not to listen, to remind myself that lies are what they really are.

The past two days God has used scripture to remind me that He is faithful, that He is able, that He is trustworthy and that He is mighty in power. To my amusement, He had me finding all of this in the book of Numbers. Why was I amused? I usually pass over this book since in my head, it’s about numbering all the people in Israel and usually that bores (full-blown honesty here) me to tears.

But I read Numbers 10 and 11 yesterday and 12 and 13 today. And here’s what God taught me:

Lesson #1 from Numbers 11:18-23 – God brought each person 60 bushels of quail that day.  Is the LORD’s arm too short?  I don’t think so…..

Lesson #2 from Numbers 13:26-33 – If God says the land is flowing with milk and honey, trust Him, it is….

Lesson #3 from Numbers 14:26-38 – Faith is rewarded – Joshua and Caleb would live to see the day that the Israelites entered the Promised Land because they believed God. Doubt is not rewarded….

Lesson #4 from Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 2:1-12,  Mark 5:25-34, Mark 10:46-52 and Luke 18:35-43 – Bold requests are answered when they are made with absolute faith!

Lesson #5 from Mark 9:14-25

Lord, I believe, help me overcome my unbelief!!!!!

Trading Up

Last week I tweeted something God was teaching me:

“In the busyness of life, it’s so easy to let the “good” crowd out God’s best for us. I’d rather have the best, so I’m dropping the good.”

I’m amazed at how many times this idea has cropped up over the last 6 days. It’s been everywhere in every day since. Hopefully, I’m not stealing too much thunder from our next sermon series, but I’ve been editing the next journal and it’s filled with the same idea.

We can be so focused on the good.

Let that thought linger for a little while longer…

I wrote my tweet last Wednesday when I decided to let go of a good thing and choose something better. I had been “playing” at selling jewelry for about 2 months and decided that even playing in it was distracting me from things that were better. I let it fall out of my hands so that my hands were open and waiting for the better thing I knew was coming. And honestly, that wasn’t that hard. However, I know that letting go of the good can be very painful. I’ve had to do it in two other areas this week, both of which were painful. Who am I kidding….still are painful!

But we can’t grasp God’s best for us with hands that are full of things that are good.

“As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51)  Jesus for three years had been ministering all around Israel, just not in Jerusalem. Things were good, lots of miracles took place, his ministry had been burgeoning but Jesus let go of the good, to grasp firmly God’s best. He knows what he’s facing and he heads out anyway. Jesus couldn’t go to the cross in Jerusalem without giving up the “good” of his ministry elsewhere. And this was certainly an instance where choosing God’s best would be very costly!

Letting go of the good, to choose the best, will be costly. In fact, it may cost us everything. Jesus alluded to that when He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and pick up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-5)

The good is good… but honestly, I’ve never only wanted the good. I’d much rather trade up for God’s best even though it costs me everything. So resolutely, I am turning towards that best.

What “good thing” do you need to let drop from your hands so that God can fill them with his best?

We are Plan A; there is no Plan B.

A line from my husband’s blog today. If you didn’t see it on facebook, check it out at tendollardog.word press.com.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

If you are a Christian, you’re it. You’re Plan A.

How can you help? There are ten ways you can help listed at Open Arms -Ten ways to care

There is no Plan B.

Family

There’s nothing so wonderful as discovering commonalities in behaviors between your adopted and birth children. My youngest son, my daughter and I all jiggle our legs in order to keep ourselves moving when we’re in situations where we can’t get up and pace or walk around.

I was reminded how alike we all are at dinner tonight when the floor was shaking because legs were jiggling.