12-20-2017

Good Morning All,

         Hebrews 11:8; “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

    One of my favorite movies is “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”  In it there is a part where Indiana Jones has to cross this huge chasm.  He is told that he must take a leap of faith to make it across.  During the scene, we can see the fear and the angst on Indiana’s face as he takes the step.  He ends up stepping onto a walkway that is unseen.  Yet I think that his expression reveals much to us about a leap of faith.

    In our verse, we read how Abraham left his home, his father and his family, his friends and the familiar surroundings of his home and left.  He took his wife, a nephew and his possessions.  He went in the direction that God led him but Abraham wasn’t sure where he was going.  He only knew that God knew where Abraham was going and that was enough for Abraham because Abraham had faith.

    I am not sure what kind of reaction most husbands would get if they told their wives that they were packing up and moving but He didn’t know where.  I am not sure how most men would react to the call that Abraham received.  Events that truly require faith can be difficult.  When our life is going the way we want it to go, healthy, wealthy and wise, it can be easy to say that “I have faith”.  But what happens when life goes the other way? 

    It is at those tough times, those terrible times, those horrific times, that cause us to feel the angst of faith.  When things go the way they are supposed to go, happy and healthy children, successful job, loving spouse and everything else we want; we can say “I’ve been blessed and I have faith.”  Yet when God peels away the veneers of stuff that we use to measure happiness or contentment and we are left with only Him to cling to; faith can be both fearful and angst filled.  We look and don’t see the path; we may not even be sure of the direction that we are travelling.

    Yet God tells us to trust in Him.  We can look at all the promises that he has already kept, we can look at the total faithfulness of his actions, we can look to his incredible grace already poured out on us and we can see that we can and should do just that; we should trust in His promises.  Faith can be described as hugging back.  God picks you up and holds you close to his chest so you can hear his heart and feel the warmth of his love.  Faith is hugging back and thus clinging tightly to God and his incredible mercy.  So we may waver, we may have twinges of fear and angst but we still take that step of faith fully confident that God has placed the walkway beneath our feet to keep us safe I his loving arms.

Gracious Father, strengthen my faith.  Lead down the path of your righteousness that I may grow in my faith that I may cling even tighter to you.  Be with all those who struggle with life’s challenge at this time.  Give them the courage to take the step of faith that we all need to take.  Guide them gently in their ways.  In the precious name of Jesus our Risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret