He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20
Oh how our faith can waver sometimes.
It seems that the gusting of a slight breeze of discord or worry can shake our quivering feet of faith.
Have you ever come to a moment of realization that your faith is not as deep as you once thought it was? We all encounter times, while on this journey, where the feel as though we have entered into the desert and we are found lacking in our resolve and fortitude. This journey will take us into places that require us to dig a little deeper and to endure the dry and thirsty places – where we find ourselves questioning everything and reaching further for God…who seems to have gone silent.
Have you been to this place?
I remember when I first learned to swim.
My parents would take me into the deeper part of the waters where my feet couldn’t touch and then let go of me, and as they let go of me they step back out of my reach. I remember there was a momentary panic. The saving hands were no longer on me and I found myself struggling to keep my head above the waters. I remember having to reach out my arms while kicking my feet so that I could reach the safety again. As I did this, without realizing, I began to swim by myself for the first time.
My intentions were not to swim. My intention was to reach the safe arms of my parents who were just out of reach.
There is growth within the tension and fear.
Growth that can only take place when we are left to our own devices.
Growth that can only transpire within the turmoil and desert places of our faith journey.
It is as if God steps back from us, and we are faced with the seemingly terrifying notion that we must step into the deep alone. The truth is that we are most certainly not alone, but rather there is growth that is only found in desert. And so we step out, unsure of ourselves…unsure if we can reach those safe arms of Christ again.
Remember Peter on the waters before Jesus?
He is asked to step out into a turbulent, uncertain space.
Peter takes a couple of steps, loses sight of the arms of Christ and begins to sink.
He takes his eyes off of Jesus.
He considers the impossibilities of such a journey.
He must have recalled his inability to do this feat, and as the doubt sinks in so does Peter.
We often chastise Peter for his lack of faith.
We often sermonize this passage to implicate the lack of resolve that ‘the Rock’ had…
But where were the other disciples?
Do we read about their steps of faith on the waters? No.
They were still in the boat watching it all go down.
We have to get out of our boats.
We will encounter dry and thirsty times in our faith journey.
It will feel as if we are all alone out in the wilderness, but we are not alone.
God steps back and watches us within the tension of deeper waters.
And it is within those deeper spaces that we grow.
It is through perseverance that our character and the very image of Christ becomes clearer in us.
Some have turned back and returned to the safe places.
Some have given up because they have felt abandoned.
Others have persevered and they have grown.
The Lord desires all of us to deepen our faith, and so these times of dryness should be seen as opportunities to grow up into this amazing faith.
Being like Jesus isn’t easy.
It takes determination and desire on our part.
Are you prepared to allow God to deepen your faith?
Is it your desire to get off of spiritual baby formula and begin to feast on more sustainable spiritual nourishment?
Take that next step…don’t be afraid, He’s got you, and He isn’t far from you right now!
Something more to ponder today.
It’s the word ‘Submit’…as in submit someone else.
Submission to God means we can finally become all that God knows we can be. There is this potential within all of us, but it can only be accessed and fully realized when we completely submit ourselves to God’s will. This is probably the most difficult thing we will ever do. Full submission to God doesn’t mean that we will lose our identity, no, it means that we will finally have our full identity. We are called sons and daughters of God…when we finally submit to Him, this title becomes our identity. The difficulty is letting go and trusting Him. It requires us to say, “Lord, my life is in your hands!” When we submit in this way, the temptations of the evil one will diminish and we can resist sin – through the power of the Holy Spirit.
most important things to pray for. Our families are brought to mind. Our personal concerns and our stressors are also brought to the forefront. When we pray these things are important and good to pray for. We also should remember that we are Kingdom people, and as Kingdom people, our priority to Christ and His Kingdom should also be high on that list. When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray the spirit of humility and servanthood were spoke: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done…”
We must tread lightly here, for to insinuate that we know the mind of God is dangerous territory. However, what we know of Him and that of human interaction with the Almighty, there are certainly forms of worship God hates. Do you think the term “hate” is too strong? Does God hate?
going to be peachy. But I believe God hates obligatory worship. Imagine if I were to give flowers to my wife simply because it’s the right thing to do, not that I want to, but rather because it’s expected. How do you think she would feel if, as I gave her the flowers, I said; “Here’s you weekly obligatory flower arrangement dear!”? Do you think she would enjoy them and feel loved in my gift of those flowers? Of course not!
Worship leader – beware! Worship was never about how good YOU sing or how Awesome your Guitaring or Piano-ing is… Seriously, if all we do in worship is try to emulate a Hillsong or Jesus culture/David Crowder concert, then we’re going about it all wrong and we need to stop!
Our worship of God ought not to be a circus displaying our vast array of talents for the world to see. Real worship isn’t about a concert or our aspirations to be the next big thing in the Top Ten CCLI Worship Leaders. All these things are earthly desires – as we strive for human accolades and praise.
Another question that I often ponder is this –
I think that before we can “Do Church” we have to “BE Imitators of Christ“…We have to experience the inward change of our hearts before any of these outward things can be evident and real. After all, wasn’t it God’s instruction to “Be Holy”…not “Do Holy” (Lev 20:26) We get these backwards many, many times.
Pastor's Ponderings 