Uncommon Faith

Have you ever prayed for something, but just knew it wouldn't be answered in the way you wished for? I have. I prayed God would heal my mom from Parkinson's.....I prayed He would heal my dad from Alzheimers...He didn't. 

Now I don't think it was necessarily because of my lack of faith. Mostly it was because I have never heard of anyone being healed from either of those diseases. God could have healed them both. He chose not to. I don't know why.....I didn't see much good come out of either of those situations.....can you imagine the spiritual outcome if God had chosen to heal either of my parents??? So why didn't He.....I won't know until I see Him some day.

But .....

I often pray for things not really believing God will answer in the way I am praying. I think therein lies the lesson....The Gentile woman pleaded with Jesus to heal her daughter from demon possession. His response? Basically no -  In fact, he initially ignored her and then finally said, "I was only sent for my people Israel". She persisted. He again said no, "it isn't right to take food from children and give to the dogs". (imagine being compared to dogs and still persisting to ask) She asked for a third time saying, "even dogs get scraps from their master's table". 

Jesus' third response? "Dear woman, your faith is great. Your request is granted". Why only after three times did Jesus finally answer her and heal her daughter? I don't know, but here is what uncommon faith might look like:

1. Faith that withstands God's silence.

2. Faith that endures rebuffs from other people - even the disciples told Jesus to make her go away, that she was bothering them.

3. Persistance

If we persist, will God answer our prayer in the way we want? Nope......that's discouraging to be honest. But I think it is in the persistence, silence, and rebuff of others that grows our faith and relationship with God. It's in the faith that knowing God can. I think sometimes we can get through the first two, but its the persistence where we falter, especially when God doesn't answer right away. 

It sure would be nice though to see God answer a prayer that humanly speaking can't be done - like healing my parents from those diseases. Just being honest....

Uncommon Faith = gives God the opportunity to do uncommon things

Not Staying "in your Lane"

 

 I follow a number of topics and people on social media, specifically Twitter - I refuse to call it X! One of those topics is the never-ending debate and criticism within the Southern Baptists regarding women's roles in the church and in families.

Now hear me out: I am a non-conservative complementarian (if that is such a thing LOL). I believe that God has created men and women equally, with each having specific gifts and that God has asked men to lead and love their families as Jesus loves the Church. I also believe women can teach men from God's Word and can speak from the pulpit - gasp!!! I didn't say be a head pastor of a church - I said can speak from the pulpit to both men and women.

We can all flesh out and argue what that means until we are blue in the face. There is not ONE person on this earth that can interpret the Bible perfectly. Sorry, there just isn't - because we are sinful humans. I am shocked, appalled, disgusted, and saddened at the many comments I see on social media where followers of Jesus criticize each other for their interpretations of scripture. I am not here to convince you one way or the other. I am here to say that the testimony we are living out on social media, regarding these secondary issues, must really sadden Jesus. Not to mention, turn people away from Him.

Look, you can believe a woman shouldn't be a pastor, make more money then her husband, only teach boys under the age of 5, etc. but I think when you meet Jesus face to face, He isn't going to ask you what your personal interpretation of His Word was when it comes to these things. He is going to ask you if you know Him, if you loved others like He did, if you shared Him with others. 

What are the two commandments? "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.....and the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

I am reading and studying through a new Bible Study book that uses stories from the Bible to teach us what they mean for our lives today. Today's was about Abigail from I Samuel. Sadly, I didn't know about this story. Here's the jist.....David and his men were out in Carmel and encountered Nabal's men with their sheep. David and his men stayed with them protecting them and all of their possessions by their mere presence. In return, David asked Nabal for provisions for his army. He was refused, which angered David.

David set out to kill Nabal and all his family. Nabal's wife, Abigail, got wind of this and took a risk. As a women in that time, she was probably expected to stay at home and support her husband's decision. She gets provisions together and heads out to meet David and pleads with him in order to prevent the oncoming violence he was about to bring on them. A few potential lessons from this story:

1. Saving lives was more important to Abigail than "staying in her lane". She bent expectations for the greater good.

2. Abigail acted in spite of fear and violence, and in spite of another's bad decision.

3. Her pleading for peace showed discernment and foresight.

4. Instead of violence, she gives. Instead of brashness, she demonstrated listening and intentionality. Instead of hostility, she shows hospitality. She commanded authority without being given it (by her role in society as a woman). She saw a need and took action to prevent destruction, even it it meant going against the norms.

 In a world that puts celebrities, famous christian leaders, etc. up for all to see and honor, Abigail reminds us it is often overlooked heroes that make our world a better place. It also teaches us to take decisive action when met with opposition, because our tendency when met with opposition is "violence" - name calling, verbal attacks criticizing, speaking without listening, etc.

It confronts us with how we choose to respond to people around us - those who think differently, those who treat us poorly, or who criticize and lie about us. Should we take action? do we act in opposition, or do we supersede expectations, non-violently, in order to serve a greater good ..... like Abigail did.

Yet another story in the Bible where God uses a woman to teach us all some valuable lessons we would be wise to take heed of.

(The Good and Beautiful Bible Study)