…And then what?

A deeper look into faith

Taking a leap of faith for me requires a little information ahead of time. Why is it that I lack the faith to take the leap? Perhaps I am afraid that He will not catch me? Is it so bad that I want to be a well informed Christian? I would like to see the big picture and I want to ask the question “and then what Lord?” What I’m interested in is what happens next, not necessarily what is happening now. So many times in our lives, the “next” precedes the “now”, and in turn we lose out on the blessing God offers us today. Our faith is diminished when we concern ourselves with what happens tomorrow. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34. An increase of worry results in a decrease of faith. It draws the eyes of our soul away from heaven and on our present circumstances.

I have a fear of heights and, believe it or not, I climb to the tops of mountains. It takes a lot of physical and mental strength to climb. At times I feel like giving up on the trail and turning around but, I know the view from the top will be amazing. Therefore, I continue. Once I begin to think about how far the top is away from me I become flooded with worry. Will I make it to the top? Will I fall? What happens if the sun goes down and I’m still hiking? Where is the next water source? Am I going to slow? When I focus on one step at a time I come to the realization that all of these steps will add up to one glorious moment. In essence, each step becomes a blessing in and of itself. Each moment is filled with the sites and sounds of nature and the questions of a worried hiker fade away in high mountains. May you become caught up with your Savior as He leads you on this hike we call life. In the simple yet quite moments of your soul, may you find comfort in the fact that we serve a God who is faithful. Jump faithfully into his arms! And then what…Trust that he will catch you.

Speak

There are times in my life when I wish that God would speak. In His voice I would find comfort. In His voice I would find the strength that I lack. A voice the transcends my so-called good judgment and a voice which puts my very soul at ease. But who is to say I would even listen if I heard such a voice. Chances are I would ignore it and go on with my daily duties and responsibilities. We ask God to speak but how many of us are really listening? How many of us would sit down during the day and stop what work we are doing and listen? How many of us would shut up and shut off our brains from the world for one minute? We are deaf and dumb in this culture, me included. Our culture keeps our thoughts occupied with billboards, TV, the Internet, video games, movies, and fantasies. My brain is overloaded with this junk and in turn it finds its way to my heart. My heart becomes hard to the things of God because there is so much exterior noise I can't focus on that still small voice. No wonder I can't hear it. No wonder Christians in America are deaf to it. We have forgotten what our Father's voice sounds like; we have forgotten our first love.

Cover to Cover

It has been my new year’s resolution for the past several years to read the Bible cover to cover. In years past unfortunately I have failed to do that task. I hope this year will be different... I will attempt to read the bible from Genesis to Revelation in effort to know the one who inspired men to write it. Many Christians see no value in reading the Bible cover to cover... in my honest opinion I think it can only help the Christian grow in their faith and knowledge. You can begin to see the hand of God throughout the generations and you can also begin to know the God of the Old and New Testament. What am amazing journey to embark on. Pray for me.