Skip to main content

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?  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more