Let Faith Arise

The title of this writing expresses the essence of my thoughts for today.  Sadly, it is not too often that a remarkable awareness like the following experience takes place, but when situations or stimulating developments awaken the grey matter between my ears, the intensity to share it with others heightens to the point of joyful excitement .

First off, God wants and expects His children to exercise faith in everyday living.  By doing so, it keeps the vertical relationship with Him fresh, open and alive so that the horizontal plane with others can be more affective when sharing the goodness of Christ.  Introducing Jesus to hurting people that do not know Him as their Lord and Savior is the highlight of God’s commission to Believers. 

Faith and works go hand in hand.  Without it, it is like a missing heart with no place for blood to go.  Faith is at the heart of believing, and believing is faith unleashed and unfettered. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and to do the work that is expressly needed to be accomplished.  Rubbing shoulders with those around us is a sure way to distribute the good news that God loves them with a passionate, everlasting love.

I bought an eight inch round mirror for my wife this Christmas that magnifies 10x on one side and has a standard, reflective mirror on the other.  It was made to hang on a wall and is equipped with a three position switch that, when turned, provides variable intensities of light on both mirrors.  I mounted the unit on the wall next to one of the vanity sinks in our dressing room.

Previewing the mirror before installing, I saw two, very tiny plastic washers, clear in nature that went under two decorative, securing nuts that held the mirror’s arm to the bracket assembly that I attached to the sheetrock.

Having finished the preparatory work on the base, the only thing left to do was attach the movable arm of the mirror to the base with the two washers and decorative nuts—but where were the washers?  They were there a moment ago, but now they’re gone.

The washers were included to prevent scratching the chrome finish on the housing assembly as the nuts were being tightened to the two protruding screws of the base assembly.

I looked and I looked feverishly for the two, 3/8 inch diameter washers at nausea; praying to God for His help in finding them.  I even got my high powered flashlight to assist in the search.  They had to be there, but where?  I knew that God would come through for me and I’d see them at any moment.

Perhaps it was a test of my patience.  Was I going to have to install the mirror without the washers and scratch the finish on the chrome?  No, I felt strongly that God was going to help me find them; I just hadn’t seen them as yet.  I patiently continued the search.

Several minutes later the washers were still not found, but I did not give up hope.  Time was wasting, because I wanted to surprise my wife by having the installation completed by the time she returned from shopping.

I went to the kitchen for a glass of ice water, believing God would reveal where those rascals were.  I cannot explain how deeply the conviction was that I would soon find them.

I had looked in the vanity drawers, atop the vanity, on the little throw rug in front of the toe-kick of the vanity, and inside the bowls of each sink.  Upon my return from the kitchen, something on the rug reflected the ceiling light into my eyes.  Yes, it was one of the washers.  What were the odds that it would fall perfectly to reflect the light?  It was God!

I was happy to say the least, but deep inside, I somehow knew it would happen.  I continued to believe God for the other washer when something told me to look in the top drawer one more time.  I had looked twice already.  There it was!  Amazing!  How did I not see it before?

My simple faith held onto the notion that even though I could not see the washers, I believed I would.  This is a small example how faith works.  This extraordinary and wonderful victory of finding the washers touched my heart, which caused me to consider the importance of faith when praying.

I realized that when I pray for something, I should believe with everything in me that God not only hears my prayers, but He desires to bring them to fruition.  I recognized the significance of believing with the same fervency of faith that I had when looking for the washers, knowing that nothing is impossible with God.

Even though I could not see that which I was looking for, the hope of finding the washers was such that I believed God to reveal them.  This is faith, not a boatload of faith, but just enough faith to get the job done.  That’s all we need.  God will do the rest.  We would be amazed at the prayers answered if we trusted God, totally.

(Hebrews 11:1), “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

A man was testing his own level of faith one evening when he looked out the bedroom window and demanded the mountain near his home to be cast into the sea.  He arose the next morning, looked out the window and saw the mountain in the same place it was the night before.  Unenthusiastically, he said, “Just as I expected.”

When we pray, we must pray expecting an answer, not like the man in the story.

(James 1:6-8), “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”  vs.7 “For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;” vs.8 “he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

We need to encourage ourselves to believe that the Lord cares about the smallest things in our life—even two, tiny washers.  Jesus wants us to ask God, in faith believing, for the things we have need of.

(John 14:13-14), “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son”  vs.14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

When we let faith arise, we will be amazed at the closeness we feel to our heavenly Father.  We will experience His love as He pours blessing after blessing into our heart.  He indeed wants us to experience an abundant life through His Son, Jesus.  This comes as we walk by faith.

(John 7:38), “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

(Luke 11:9-13), “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  vs.10 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  vs.11 “If a son asks for bread from any father among  you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  vs.12 “Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?”  vs.13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” 

Written by,

Papa Boyd