Faith

Last night Mark and I read Hebrews 11, which is the chapter on faith.  My Bible reading plan just happened to coincide with some decisions that we are making that require faith.  Isn’t faith such an interesting concept?  Faith is easy if you are sure of the direction you want to go, but what if you have lots of options and just need to go ahead with one of them?  Then what?

I laugh at the way we often times think God works.  I think we overspiritualize “choice” sometimes.  I spoke with a young woman who was trying to determine whether it was God’s will that she date someone who was in full time ministry or one that was pursuing a business degree.  She was torn about which one God had “called” her to.  As she was lamenting, she began talking about what she wanted in a man, including the exact height requirements that she would settle for.  I told her, “You are willing to tell God that you won’t marry a man under six feet tall, but you aren’t willing to just make a choice about the type of career path you want in a mate?”  Sometimes you just have to make a decision and let God bless you from there.  For example, if you are uncomfortable with the military lifestyle, don’t date someone in the army.  It’s a choice and God gave us a brain to make a choice.

The faith part comes right after the choice.  She won’t marry a man under six feet tall, so she better have faith that God can help her with that…

And I find great comfort in that.  Just make the choice with the best heart and mind that you can muster…and have the faith to believe that God will bless you for giving it your all. 

As church planters, we face such a multitude of decisions in the months and years to come.  Everything we are is temporary and it is our job to find permanence in our community.  That will take sacrifice and leadership skills far beyond what we can imagine, but I trust that as we make the choices necessary, our church will follow with a faith that moves the mountains.