Faith is a hard thing. I have experienced faith that could move mountains, but the mountains did not move. I’ve experienced faith that’s resigned to lesser than what I’ve seen and read in the Bible. And I’ve experienced no faith at all. Faith that my prayers would not help. Faith that the person for whom I was petitioning the Father, wouldn’t experience a favorable answer.
But that is not faith, is it? No, faith is believing in the things hoped for— the things unseen yet HOPED for (Hebrews 11:1). That is faith.
The tug of war in my soul between the Andy who wants to have great faith and the Andy succumbed to this dying, selfish world is often a one-sided competition. But God is faithful. He doesn’t let me lie in the mud for too long before He throws out a rope of hope, a sign of encouragement to believe in His power on this earth and in my life. And as I write these words, I’ve yet again been schooled with the knowledge that living a life in expectation and hope is a lot more pleasant and fun than living a life defeated and down.
I’ve always been a “cheerleader.” One of my favorite things to do is to encourage. So, I share with you a continued, perhaps the better word is renewed, goal of ministry. I pray to encourage you to continue believing. I pray to encourage you to look to the heavenly things. May we keep our eyes focused on the prize. Jesus. Heaven. New bodies. Crowns.
“Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such away as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games go into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Cor. 9:24,25).
Run sister, Run! Amen!
Much love,
andy
