What’s The Point…

What’s the Point in saying we Believe…

Published by Deborah Negron M.A. February 28, 2014

James 7
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

I believe in God. I trust God. I know God is good, so long as things go the way I plan them.
This is the attitude of many in Christian circles today. We want to show off the ‘goodness’ of God when things are just as we want them.
But what if the Good Father’s answer is no?
What if after praying for something for a long time God’s response is not what we wanted? When we would rather be in a different circumstance, do we lose our faith?

Job was a man who had everything. He had wealth, respect and position. He had everything a man could ask for and then some.
But the day of the bad news came. It was consistently bad news onto worst news. It seemed as if the streak of bad luck what there just to torment him.

But the reality is that God allowed the calamity to come. He permitted the loss and the pain and the sorrow.
I have to admit this is not my cup of tea.
I like the mountain top. The valley is not that pleasant for me. But we love to praise God in the good times. In the tough times we tend to isolate and back away.
But I love Job’s response. He stated God gave and God took away, let the Lord be praised.
He had the right attitude. He praised God even after his own wife said, why don’t you curse God and die. Wow, my hero! He stood the test. He submitted to the testing and was found worthy.
We must be people that have the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They refused to bow to the idol. They served the Most High, period. They responded with, whether God saves us from the furnace or we die, we will not bow down and serve another.
You see it is a decision we must make to be firm regardless of the issues that may come.
We are His. We belong to God. If so, then we must accept the things that come with the knowledge that God is still on the throne. He is sovereign. He knows how and why he must test our faith.
Job came out a winner on the other side of that loss. After His death on the cross, Christ became our victorious saviour when he conquered sin and death.
We too can be in hardship and in times of loss, but rest assured, when we place our faith on the one who is truly Lord over all, we will be purged, cleansed, pruned, perfected and changed from glory to glory.
Don’t lose your faith because of the answer he gives you. He may decide no. He knows what we have need us. But we are in the process of being formed, shaped aand equipped to be more like Jesus. God is imprinting on our lives the image of His Son. Gold must be placed in high heat to lose its impurities. Sliver as well. The clay must be pulled and shaped and sometimes remade.

Lord, today, let me have the faith that trusts you in the darkness. For the only light is you. Let me fix my eyes on your will for me and not some hope or useless expectation.
Let me desire the eternal and not focus so much on the temporal.
I am yours.
Let me never waver in my faith but trust that all things will work together for good.
This day, this is my prayer.
Amen.