Faith for the Big Things

Over the years, and the trials I’ve walked through, it is interesting to find I no longer lean on my faith for what I used to consider the “big” things.  I used to wait for the Lord to pay all our bills . . . and I didn’t want to work so hard at my job.  Today I am believing for the ability to love those who treat me poorly, and grace to make the day count for good.  Yet today, the Lord said that these last 2 items are part of the Kingdom of God.  And I don’t think the first 2 are found in Jesus’ parables about His Father’s Kingdom.

Trials come, and the Lord has great compassion for our pain.  He does not dismiss our heartaches by contrasting them with His glorious and eternal Kingdom.  Rather, our Heavenly Father weaves our earthly life through the lessons that eventually make our lives rich in Him.

Today I did not struggle to love someone who had maligned me in the past, and I found it felt good to pray for the well-being of some who made life harder.  Though I could have done these things out of obedience to God’s Word, He chose to work that obedience into my heart instead of my head.  The trials I would like to have avoided and the lessons I never sought actually were meant to bring me into God’s eternal Kingdom, starting first with bringing that same Kingdom into my heart. Wow, this is good stuff.

God’s gifts to me have not been monetary.  Two days ago a stranger spoke wisdom into my life and prayed for me.  Yesterday a door was opened for me to work less so that I could care for my mother. This morning a friend walked into my office with preaching and prayer.  Another friend at work extended compassion. The doctor I took my mother to was patient, even filling a form out himself.  And on it went.  Though the week was hard with trials set in motion by my mother’s stroke, it has been a very rich week because of God’s gifts of wisdom, prayer, encouragement, and more.  

I like God’s Kingdom.  I see an invisible strength in the grace He has given me to walk through this week with Him. And I have received more riches than what I could pay my debts off with.  So tonight I am going to be content with the knowledge that God has chosen a good life for us, and in that I can have faith.  Amen.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28).