Sometimes, at night, I lay awake wondering how I got to that particular place. It's funny, the places I end up. I've woken up in strangers homes, in dirt huts, in some of the nicest suites in hotels, camp cabins, floors, air mattresses, homes filled with friends, homes filled with strangers, homes completely empty...I experienced a big variety of those all within the last month.
It's a cool feeling though, the feeling of being swept up in God's plan and not understanding a bit of it, but just knowing it's all leading somewhere. Let me back up...it CAN be a cool feeling. It can also be very confusing, frustrating, lonely...
I had the privilege of working at a camp for foster kids at the end of June. It was one of the best refining weeks of my life. Extreme emotional roller coaster the whole time, plus lack of sleep and constant conflict and drama within my cabin made it impossible for me NOT to lean on God. Before the girls got there I found myself alone in our cabin and I walked around praying for each bed and for the girl that was going to inhabit it. The girls in those beds probably find themselves waking up in many different environments within short periods of time as well, although for them it's not their choice. I was struck with how much peace I received from God by simply focusing in on my purpose for being there. By focusing on faith, and believing I was meant to be there, it took the pressure off. It brought clarity and focus to a new and unknown and scary adventure, and at the same time gave God the power and freedom to do whatever He wanted with me that week.
I've been reading through Romans lately, and I don't know if I never noticed this before or if I just don't remember, but I am BLOWN AWAY at the emphasis they put on faith. Paul is constantly stating and restating that by FAITH we are deemed righteous. Not by our works (although we need both), and not even by what Jesus has done for us, but by our act of BELIEVING in what Jesus has done for us and living that way.
I love how Paul refers to Abraham's situation in Romans 4:24-25, "And Abraham's faith did not weaken, even though he KNEW that he was too old to be a father at the age of one hundred and that Sarah, his wife, HAD NEVER BEEN ABLE TO have children." (emphasis mine). It's not about our circumstances, it's not about what is physcially and humanly possible in this world. It's about the fact that we serve a MIGHTY God, the one who created our minds to be able to even logically analyze a situation which is what keeps us from faith so often!
I know this is all been said before, but man, God has opened my eyes in a new way to this TRUTH. I heard in a message at church recently that the more we feed our fears, our faith starves, but the more we feed our faith our fears starve. We look around us and see what's possible and what is not, and we forget that we serve a God that is BEYOND the impossible. To him that's just a silly word made up by us, made up by our fear. His best work is done in impossible situations, all He wants us to do is to BELIEVE that He is bigger, and therefore give Him the power in our lives to show that off!
Faith. By which we are called righteous. What helps us stand when everything seems hopeless. What gives us strength to keep going. What opens our eyes to new and wildly impossible situations therefore getting us one step closer to living by the wings of our soul rather than by the limits of our mind and body.
Let your soul take over today, I know I'm trying.
