COMPETING WITH YOURSELF

Galatians 6:4-5

Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.

                For a number of years now I have been running in distance races; 5k, 10k, half-marathons. As I reentered the world of running, I came to grips with an obvious reality. I am at best an average runner, which means that I will not be the first one to cross the finish line. More times than not I will finish the race somewhere in the middle of the pack. That relates to the overall number of runners, as well as the runners in my particular age category. If my goal was to win every race that I entered, then I would end every race disappointed. But that has not been my goal. My goal has been to run the best race that I can, hopefully performing better than the last race. In distance races, progress is measured in seconds. For example: I finished the race 10 seconds faster that my last race.

                There is a life lesson to be learned from how we measure success in distance running. The only person we really need to compete against is ourselves. In our competitive world where we measure ourselves against others, we need to refocus our natural drive to compete. The wise person knows that the only competition that really matters is the one against yourself. Life is about being the best you that you can be. Seeking to be better than someone else will most often leave us far short of our real goal.

                Comparing ourselves to others in order to measure our success in life is a double-edged sword. On one side, it can lead us down the path of pride and an inflated ego. It is always possible for us to compare ourselves with those who are less successful. This can make us feel better than we should about where we are in life. It gives us a false sense of accomplishment. It also causes us to look down on others and feel superior to them. The other side of the equation is when we compare ourselves to those who are far out in front of us.  We live in a culture that artificially elevates prominent people. We are enthralled by the amazing “success stories” that popular media feed to us. As we compare our lives with the lives of the “truly successful” people, we find ourselves coming up short. This may be positive motivation for some, but it is discouraging for many. The gap is so great between where we are and where they are that we lose hope of bridging it. Their success becomes our failure and leads to discouragement.

                The Bible gives us a better way to measure our success. We are to measure ourselves against ourselves. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have been gifted and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Each one of us has a unique role to play in the overall Kingdom of God. The more that we understand how God has gifted us and how we can use those gifts for His glory, the more we will be able to accurately measure our progress.

                A famous Rabbi once made the following observation. When I stand before God at the judgment, He will not ask me why I wasn’t Moses. He will ask me why I wasn’t me. We should pay attention to his warning. It is easy for us within the church to measure ourselves against the bright stars of the church. When we do that, we begin to pattern our lives after those bright stars. We try to act like them, talk like them, even dress like them. In the end, we are trying to be someone that we cannot be. When I stand before God at the judgment, He will not ask me why I didn’t measure up to Chuck Swindoll, or Bill Hybels, or Andy Stanley. He will ask me about what I did with the gifts and opportunities that He gave to me.

                Throughout the New Testament, the emphasis is not on emulating other people, but on being the best you that you can be. Peter addresses that in 1 Peter 4:10-11. 

    Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

                Paul challenged the idea of comparing ourselves with others in 1 Corinthians 12.

    Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.

    The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" (1 Corinthians 12:14-16, 21)

                Each of us has the responsibility to compete against ourselves. This is never an excuse for laziness or complacency, but a call to grow and mature in our faith. As Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

                In the race of life, there is only one person that we need to compete against; ourselves. Our progress may be measured in great achievements from time to time, but most of the time it will be measured in small incremental steps. Each step taking us closer to the ultimate goal of being all that God created us to be.

BREAKING THE SILENCE

                I have been fascinated with science from the time as I was a little boy. I remember being intrigued as I peered for the first time at the wing of a fly through the eyepiece of my microscope. I bought science equipment at our local drug store, with the desire to do experiments, even though I didn’t know what that really entailed.

                Those early interests in science blossomed into a degree in biology at college. I almost didn’t complete my degree because I took too many biology classes. During my time in college I was able to dig deeply into the realities of our world. One of my favorite classes was a class in endocrinology. During that class, I was able to observe the significant changes that happen in an animal when a specific hormone was removed. I was also fascinated by my class in genetics. Working with fruit flies, I saw firsthand how genetic characteristics are passed on from one generation to the next. I also saw the changes that can take place in a population over time.

                During my journey through my biology degree, I encountered the theory of evolution. I quickly became aware of two very different applications of this theory. The one application is what I will call micro-evolution. This is the gradual changes that take place within specific species. This is the type of evolution that Darwin observed during his monumental discoveries in the Galapagos Islands. Everyone who has studied populations can attest to this type of natural selection.

                The other type of evolution is what I am calling macro-evolution. This is the theory that the kind of evolution we can observe within species took place between species to create new species. This is the classic microbe to man theory of evolution. After observing micro-evolution, Darwin extrapolated the concept to explain how all life forme;, moving from single cell organisms to the enormous diversity we see today.

                 I have been reading a new book by F. LaGard Smith that has masterfully exposed some of the insurmountable obstacles to macro-evolution. The title of the book is Darwin’s Secret Sex Problem. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to take an honest look at the now universally excepted theory of evolution. Smith affirms the truth of micro-evolution while raising serious questions about macro-evolution. At the heart of his thesis is the question, how did male/female sex come into being. This issue is referred to as the Queen of evolutionary problems by those who champion evolution as the answer to life’s existence. One of the major sticking points is how did the process of asexual reproduction called meiosis evolve into what we know as sexual reproduction called mitosis. In meiosis, cells divide producing an exact copy of themselves. In mitosis, two different sets of chromosomes are mixed to produce a different entity, related to the parents but distinct from them.

                The story of creation, as recorded in the book of Genesis, is not a scientific treatise on how God created the world, but a clear and powerful statement that He is the author of all that we know and don’t yet know. In simple, clear statements, Genesis outlines a systematic creation event. Although it does not go into detail about the mechanism of how God created the different components of creation, it does give us some very important clues to the boundaries that God set for creation. Particularly relevant to the argument in Smith’s book is Genesis 1:20-25.

                And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day.

                And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

                Multiple times the story records that God created living creatures according to their kind. The same thing is said about plants. The apex of the creation story comes with the arrival of man in Genesis 1:26-28.  

  Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

                It is time for us to take another honest look at a “theory” that has been presented as an established “fact”. Dr. Smith’s book is a good place to start an honest dialog. The diversity and complexity of sexual reproduction throughout the world seriously weakens the idea that all life gradually developed from the same source, unless we recognize that that source was God.    

CATCHING YOUR BREATH

Mark 6:31

 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

                Do you ever feel like you are running through life and cannot stop long enough to catch your breath? That is the way Suanne and I have felt over the past couple of weeks. As we wrapped up our time at Bethel, things just got busier and busier. Everything came to a head on our last couple of days in Mankato. On our final Saturday, we were blessed to have 18 people come and help us move all of the furniture and big items out of our house and into storage. It was a monumental task. You would think that having that behind us there would be little to do; WRONG! The next three days were filled with packing and moving the small stuff that was left, interspersed with meetings, such as closing on our house and setting up a new phone service. Our ordeal finally came to a close at 12:30 AM Wednesday morning. With the last of our worldly belongings stacked in the garage or stuffed into one of our cars, we headed out of town, arriving at our destination at 2:45 AM.

                God blessed us with five days of rest on the North Shore of Lake Superior. We were able to visit all of our favorite spots and enjoy the chance to rest. I feel most of the weight off of my shoulders, although I am still decompressing from our whirlwind exit from Mankato.

                Jesus and His disciples understood what its was like to be on the run much of the time. The demands of the crowds were overwhelming. Mark tells us that it was so bad that they didn’t even have time to eat. At that point, Jesus called for a time out to give the disciples a time to rest. We know from the rest of the story that their rest did not last very long but, at least for a short time, they had the chance to catch their breath.

                We cannot always pull away from the demands of life and take time to rest. Extended periods of rest are a rare gift. But we still can find rest in the midst of our busy lives. Jesus offers us the kind of rest that enables us to shoulder the weight of responsibility without being crushed by it. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29

                There are a couple things Jesus tells us about finding rest in our fast paced, overwhelming world. The first thing is to recognize and admit that we are weary. Too often we mask our weariness with more busyness. Instead of catching our breath, we double our efforts. We are constantly being told that if we are not busy we are wasting time. So, we fill our lives with busyness and become more and more drained. Before we can deal with the problem, we have to be honest about the need.

                The second thing Jesus tells us is that we need to know where to go for help. People seek to deal with their weariness in many ways. It could be alcohol, entertainment, new experiences, or just vegetating in front of a computer screen or TV. These things offer us a temporary release from the weariness, but in the end leave us wearier. Jesus invites us to bring our weariness to Him. He is the one who can lift the burden from our shoulders.

                The third thing Jesus tells us is to let Him share our burden. It is interesting that Jesus doesn’t say that He will take the burden away. Instead, He offers to take some of the weight off of us. We were created to work, to be productive, to be engaged with our world. A life of total leisure may seem ideal, but it quickly leads to boredom and discontent. The solution to our weariness is not the elimination of all work, but the refocusing of how we spend our energy. When what we are doing is significant, it can energize us. Jesus invites us to partner with Him in significant ways. By doing this, our weariness is replaced with a sense of significance.

                Over this month I plan on taking full advantage of the rest that God has given to me. But I am looking forward to the next stage in my adventure with Jesus, as we transition to the position of interim pastor at Cavalier Baptist Church in Cavalier, North Dakota. Right now, I am catching my breath so that I can continue to run the race well.

Hebrews 12:1-3

    Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

   

THE RACE IS NOT OVER

Philippians 3:13-14

    Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

                Retirement: the cessation of work. Many people live their lives for retirement. They count the years until they can close the door on the office and walk away. They dream of leisurely days with no responsibilities or duties. When they arrive, they often find that retirement is not what they had dreamed it would be. Because people are healthier and live longer today, the retirement years can last as long as the work years. Many people, after having been retired for a short time, return to work in some way, just to fill the time. A leisurely vacation is fun. Endless days with nothing productive to do is BORING!

                Retirement is not a biblical concept. As a follower of Christ, as long as we have the strength, we are called to be active in service for Christ. The type of service and the venue will change, but the call is the same. We are to actively live our lives for the glory of God. The Bible gives us some amazing models of people who ran their race right up to the last day.

                One of those people was a man named Caleb. Caleb, along with Joshua, was one of the spies Moses sent into the Promised Land to scope it out in advance of the people entering. When the spies came back, the majority report was that the land is amazing, but the people are too strong for us. Caleb and Joshua gave the minority report. The land is amazing and our God is even more amazing. Let’s take the land! Forty years later, Caleb and Joshua finally stepped foot into the Promised Land. At a time when most people would be thinking of retirement, Caleb had different plans.

    "Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said." Joshua 14:10-12

                A second example of non-retirement is the Apostle Paul. Paul faced many challenges on his journey through life. No one would have faulted him if, near the end of his life, he put his feet up and took a much-needed rest. But that was not Paul’s style. Paul kept his eye on the goal and ran his race all the way to the finish line. When Paul penned the letter to the church in Philippi, he was in prison and could see his death on the horizon. Yet he could honestly say that he was not done with his race yet. He gave everything he had to Christ.

                I have been blessed with a very personal example of running the race well. When my parents retired from work, they went to work for the cause of Christ. They volunteered to organize humanitarian and ministry supplies for GAIN (formerly Josh McDowell ministry) at a warehouse in Lancaster PA. From there they were assigned as bus captions to go the Belarus and distribute the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. If that was enough, my Dad took the responsibility for overseeing the warehouse and all of the groups that went to Belarus when they did, and my Mom took care of the money. They did this ministry for 12 years. They stopped going to the warehouse just two years ago. Today, at 90 & 92, living in North Carolina, they are active members of a senior adult group and baby sit their great-grandchildren two to three times a week.

                As Suanne and I move into the world of retirement, we see it not as a time to stop, but as a time to refocus. Although we are leaving the pastorate after 36 years, we are entering a new kind of pastorate; interim ministry. We will be serving churches in the gap time between pastors. This will keep us very busy as we continue to serve Christ. We don’t know what the future will hold for us, but we know that the race is not over.

WHEN THE LION ROARS

1 Peter 5:8-9

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

                Lions roar for different reasons. Lions roar as a means of communicating with other lions. A primary reason for a lion to roar is to remind other lions that they are in control over an area and to warn them to stay away from their territory. A lion will roar after a kill for the same reason, to warn others to stay away. Most lions choose to roar at night because the sound travels further when the air is thinner.

                Peter tells us that Satan is like a roaring lion. There are many ways that we are hearing “the lion” roaring today.

                We hear him roaring in the general moral and spiritual decline of our society. He is making a clear statement that this world is his territory and that he is in charge. Paul refers to this in Ephesians 2:1-2. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. Satan is very jealous for his territory. Followers of Christ are a real threat to his power, so he roars all the louder to get us to back off.

                We hear the roar of the lion in the political and military turmoil in our world. There are many places where our world is engulfed in the flames of war. There are many other places where we are engulfed in political unrest. Many people’s lives are being destroyed through these conflicts. Satan is actively devouring them through whatever means he has at his disposal.

                We hear Satan’s roar in interpersonal conflicts; whether that be within marriages, or communities, or the workplace. Many people are living their daily lives in an adversarial situation. They are afraid of being attack, so they attack first. Satan is the master at stirring up relational conflict to tear people apart.

                Satan loves to roar in the dark. The dark masks reality and allows a person’s mind to envision all manner of things. Satan uses the darkness to intimidate and frighten people.

                Peter tells us how we need to respond when the lion roars. The very first thing he tells us is to not be caught unaware. Our first line of defense against Satan’s attacks is to strengthen our faith in Christ. Satan is always looking for vulnerabilities that he can exploit. The closer we walk with Christ, the harder it is for Satan to manipulate us into a vulnerable position. Paul says that the way we protect ourselves is by actively putting on the armor of God. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:10-13)

                Peter also tells us to stand firm in the faith. One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to call our faith into question. He compares our faith to the current popular thinking and suggests that our faith is outdated, irrelevant, and out of touch with real life. When the lion roars, we need to hold firmly onto our faith. We need to remember that Satan is a defeated enemy who is desperate. Our faith is in the one who has already won the victory; Jesus Christ. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. (Hebrews 4:14) Satan is basically a coward who uses intimidation as his prime weapon. If we will stand firm, he will back off.

                The best way for us to stand firm is to stay together. A lion always targets the old, the weak, the young, that get separated from the rest. In nature, the best defense against a lion attack is to stay together. Spiritually, the same is true. Peter reminds us that we are not alone in our struggle against Satan. Our strength is increased when we band together and not allow Satan to pull us apart.

    And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

                There is one other thing we can do to counter the effects of the roaring lion; bring things into the light. Darkness hides the truth. Light exposes reality. Too often we allow things to stay in the shadows, where they can morph into all kinds of things. The Bible tells us that we need to bring things into the light so that we can see them for what they really are.

                In John 3, it is made clear that the darkness is the place where people try to hide. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." John 3:19-21

                Paul reminds us that we do not belong to the darkness any longer. Instead we need to live as children of the light. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." (Ephesians 5:8-14)

                There is another Lion who has roared in our world; the Lion of Judah. His roar was heard on the cross of Calvary and in the echo of an empty tomb. His roar continues to echo throughout our world. Jesus has already defeated Satan. He is the rightful King to sit on the throne over all of creation. Let His roar drown out the feeble roar of Satan.

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

      and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

  in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

IMPATIENCE

Psalm 27:14

Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord.

                One of the things that gets us in trouble more than anything else is impatience. There is a story in 1 Samuel 13 about the impatience of King Saul. Saul was faced with the threat of a mighty Philistine army. He had been instructed to wait for Samuel to come to him before he took any action, but he got impatient and pressed ahead on his own. His actions had long term consequences.

1 Samuel 13:5-15

    The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

    Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

    "What have you done?" asked Samuel.

    Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

    "You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command."

    Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

                Waiting is hard. It makes us nervous. We feel unproductive. We feel compelled to do something! That is exactly how Saul felt. He had to do something, but he chose the wrong thing. There are some lessons that we can learn from Saul’s experience.

1. Impatience causes us to make rash decisions.

                One of the corollaries to impatience is frustration. The longer we have to wait for something the more frustrated we become. Our frustration can turn into motivation to do something right now. “I can’t wait any longer!” When we act out of frustration, we live to regret our actions. As the old saying goes, act in haste, repeat at leisure.

2. The wise course of action is the wait on God’s timing.

                Waiting is an act of faith. When we get impatient, we are really saying that we do not trust God. We begin to doubt that God is paying attention to our situation. That is dangerous territory. If we want our plans to succeed, we need to wait on God’s timing.

Many are the plans in a man's heart,

but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 19:21

3. Use our time of waiting to prepare for action.

                Saul’s focus was on his enemy instead of on the Lord. The reason (possibly) that his army was beginning to lose heart, was that their leader was losing heart. He could have spent that time preparing his men for the challenge before him. He could have strengthened their resolve by turning their eyes toward the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, he allowed the enemy to dominate their sight.

                God never wastes time. When God calls us to wait, He wants us to use that time to prepare us for what is ahead. Active waiting is a time to sharpen our skills, focus our efforts, and seek God’s direction.

                When I was in high school, I felt called by God to go into missions. I set my sights on attaining that goal. As I moved toward that goal, on several occasions, God put up a stop sign and called on me to wait. During my time in college, a dynamic speaker came to campus and challenged us to leave school and follow him into the mission field. God’s clear message to me was wait. When I finished my degree, I considered my next step toward my goal. God made it clear that I was not ready, so I was called upon to wait again. In seminary, God made it clear to me why He had called me to wait, because He was calling me in a different direction. Instead of missions, He was calling me into pastoral ministry. Even then, the call to wait was not over. Half way through my time in seminary the pastor from my home church contacted me and invited me to come home and be his associate, with the goal of stepping into his position when he retired. The clear message from God was wait. I declined and God opened the door for me to serve Him as an associate in a church in Minnesota. I could go on, but you get the picture. My point is that appropriate preparation is not a waist of time, it is essential. God is not in a hurry and we should not be as well.

               

                There is a group of flowers that fall under the name of impatiens. I’m not sure why they were given that name, because nothing that I could find suggests that they are impatient. But maybe they can remind us of an important truth. If we want our lives to blossom and flower for Christ, we need to be patient. If we will exercise the faith to wait on the Lord, the outcome will be productive, fruitful, and beautiful.

Psalm 40:1-3

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the Lord.

A JOURNEY OF FAITH

Genesis 12:1

The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

                I have always been fascinated by those brave souls who left their families on the east coast to travel west into an unknown land. They left knowing that they would not return or see their loved ones again. Yet, they were driven by a vision for a better life that spurred them forward. What they faced was not easy, in fact it was often overwhelmingly difficult. Yet, those who persevered and did not turn back were rewarded for their efforts.

                A very long time ago, God issued a call to Abram to leave his homeland and to travel to an unknown land. God promised him that, if he was faithful, God would bless him in unimaginable ways.

Genesis 12:2-3

 "I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you."

                The journey that Abram embarked upon was a journey of faith. All that he had to go on was a promise from God; a vision of a better future. He was willing to endure many hardships and trials. There were times when he wanted to give up. On several occasions he tried to take things into his own hands and make things work. But in the end, he trusted God and God fulfilled His promise to Abram.

                When Jesus called His first disciples, He called them into a journey of faith. He didn’t give them a roadmap for the journey. Instead he gave them a vision. As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:18-19

                Little did these men know what following Jesus would mean. At first, they were drawn by the excitement of following this young Rabbi. Their excitement turned into a solid commitment to the vision that Jesus had given to them.

    From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

    "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.

    Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:66-69

                The vision that Jesus had given to them carried them through many trials and hard times. Because of that vision, they were willing to persevere to the end. All but the Apostle John were martyred for their faith. None, save Judas, abandoned the journey.

                Jesus calls us into a journey of faith. He casts a vision of us being the people of God and of transforming our world. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8) He doesn’t give us a roadmap for the journey, as much as we desire to have one. Instead, He points us in the right direction and then says, follow me. He warns us that there will be hard times along the way; times that will test our faith and challenge our endurance. But if we will keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will overcome every obstacle in our way. It will take courage and perseverance, and above all faith.

Hebrews 12:2-3

    Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.