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Little Faith

             He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. (Matthew 8:26)

This passage came to mind as I was getting out of bed yesterday morning. My first reaction was that the point was that faith isn’t a feeling. One can choose to do it.  The problem is that we often make our choices out of habit, based on feelings, without conscious awareness that we’re making a choice. That’s where the disciples were: in the boat, in the storm, and following generations of scientific evidence that in a boat, in a storm, on a lake equals bad outcomes.

If someone had said, “Wait, guys, Jesus is the Messiah.” They might have agreed, but just because Jesus would survive doesn’t mean they would. Follow the science. It’s accurate, except for one pesky little detail. God’s love. I’m not suggesting that God never lets those He loves die in boats on lakes in storms. But when our faith disappears, our belief that God loves us also disappears. We may say “Thy will be done” but then we duck and cover.

In John Ortberg’s podcast today, he spoke of Dallas Willard’s practice. He had an attitude that was effectively, “let’s try it and see how God responds.” So here is the challenge. First, to remind ourselves that God loves us and to step out on that love. That won’t mean we’ll get what we want, but we react out of the ideas we’ve learned to react out of. So what would change if we told ourselves that God love us instead of what we usually tell ourselves?  

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