Cheap Faith
This time of year with the Holidays approaching, it always
brings to my mind the nativity scene, gifts, and time spent with family and
friends. I love to give gifts and see
the joy on the faces of those who, for that few minutes, have to wonder what is
inside. I always love the idea of giving something to my loved ones that will
be of true value and great expense and deep meaning to them; so expensive or
time consuming that the person receiving the gift will be truly blessed and
moved into a spirit of gladness.
I was asked a challenging question in my devotional this
morning. “Are you willing to trust and fulfill His purposes no matter the
cost?" I have been very weary lately and very consumed by my rights as a
follower of Christ thinking that I don’t deserve some of the challenges and
trials that I am facing. I have been so preoccupied with defending my rights
that I forgotten that Christ said there would be difficult times and that we
would need to trust God through them not scream and yell to be pulled from
them.
I think we easily forget that the God who provided one
person with the creature comforts of first world life is also the same God of
the homeless man on the corner and further still from our sight, the same God
of a starving Somalian child in Africa. He doesn’t love me more or less
depending on my worldly comforts or discomforts. And often times I fall victim
to the same attitudes of the disciples who knew they were walking with a future
king but based their perception of his power on an earthly system.
Do I stop in confusion like the disciples did when Christ refuses
to be crowned with anything on this earth but a crown of thorns and
persecution. Surely they were hoping
that any minute he would use the power he had to raise the dead and heal the
blind to overthrow the evil rulers and take his place as King.
I find myself consumed with the truth in 1 Peter. His words
although life and light to my struggles are said to a very persecuted church
who was often given the choice to denounce Christ or die. And here I am almost
derailing my witness because a neighbor doesn’t like the way I park, or the way
a tree branch almost touches my house. I
feel offended and claim my rights to not be falsely accused over tree branches
while the early church was being wiped with tree branches and hung to die on
crosses made from the wood that I out of spite I refuse to trim. My tree (or struggle)
is just so silly in comparison to true persecution. None the less I find myself
needing Peter’s words all the same to overcome my selfishness.
1Peter 3:8-15
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded,
be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do
not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil
with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a
blessing. 10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good
days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.11 They
must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.12 For
the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their
prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 13 Who
is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even
if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their
threats; do not be frightened.”15 But in your hearts revere
Christ as Lord.
I felt like I was in the boxing ring with my neighbors over
all of these silly things, getting pummeled over and over, and all I could say
to the enemy of my soul was, “I am not supposed to be in this place of
persecution, fighting for my innocence.” I gently heard God say to me yesterday
as I was trying so very hard to defend myself, “Get out of the way! I will
defend you, but you need to get out of the ring.” I was trying to fight the
devil at a game of righteousness and the only one that can ever win that fight
against him is my God; the one who paid the highest price for me to be made
righteous.
I think we get very frustrated in our walk with God when the
road is not straight or the things ahead look daunting. I tend to yell at
crooked roads to be straight more than I take God’s hand and tell Him that I
trust Him. I tend to speak to my circumstances and get angry when they don’t
answer back instead of asking if this faith, to just follow no matter what. This is
the priceless gift I can give my God. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it
is impossible to please God.” My question to you is: Even if it is hard to have
faith, is it any less important to have it?
We often fall into a Christianity of Convenience, but at the
moment that our faith costs us something we tend to be less enthusiastic about
it. This is a very big misunderstanding that faith should cost nothing. When
something costs us our convenience, when it costs us time, or money or our
pride, even our rights, we can take hope that it is not a wasted act that we do
when we surrender our will but rather an act of worship to our God that honors
Him very much.
1 Peter 4:12-14
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are
going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead,
be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering,
so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed
to all the world.14 If you are insulted because you bear the
name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon
you.
I wanted to yell at the devil to get out of the way of God
blessing me, but I think I just realized that the only one in the way of that
is me. God blesses me when I trust Him, when I follow Him even through
difficult times, when I surrender the fight to Him and believe that no matter
the cost of following him, (even if it means death) that all that matters is
bringing glory to his name. And although I may not like the way in front of me
and I may even ask God to take it far from me like Christ did right before the
crucifixion, I will say what Christ did and with all my heart surrender, “Not
my will, but yours be done.” Then truly I can say that my faith was not inexpensive
but costly, and my love was not cheap but of great value. This act of surrender is very time consuming and can cost a lot, so on that day when I meet my savior, I hope to present Him a surrendered heart, worth the weight of gold.
God help us to remember that when trials come, even small ones we can trust you and in turn trade our sorrows for dancing by living and breathing your will. Help us to turn our worldy struggles in for heavenly rewards when we choose to be surrendered to your will. Help us to love you, love our neighbors and love our enemies as you have commanded, and required of us in return for your great love. I love you so much and I want to please you so I ask for you to help me to discover how to walk in faith more every day. Amen
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