Act First

"The angel of the LORD appeared to 

Manoah's wife and said, 

'Even though you have been unable to have children,

you will soon become pregnant 

and give birth to a son.

So be careful;

you must not drink wine

or any other alcoholic drink

nor eat any forbidden food.

You will become pregnant and give birth to a son,

and his hair must never be cut.

For he will be dedicated to God

as a Nazirite from birth.

He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.'"

Judges 13:3-5 NLT

"I'll believe it when I see it."

This is the principle by which I often live.  Manoah's wife, however, was called to live by faith in much the same way I am called.  When she received the communication from God's messenger, there was no proof that what he said would come to pass.  In fact, when Manoah heard the news from his dearly beloved, he asked the Lord to send the angel again so that he could ask some questions; kind of a confirmation that what his wife had said was true.

When the angel did return, the astonished man thought he was perhaps a prophet or some other kind of man sent by God.  When the angel returned to heaven in the fire of the burnt offering that reached up toward the sky, Manoah and his wife each fell on their face, humbled and quite terrified by the fact that they'd come in contact with an angel of God.

As powerful as this experience was, it still took faith for this woman to change her lifestyle in compliance with the message in the hope that she would soon carry a child.  There was no evidence that what the angel had said was true; no quickening in her womb as a sign of what was to come, no physical verification that her time of infertility was about to end.  Instead, she had to obey God's instructions by faith, trusting that what He said would come about.

In the same way, I am called to live by faith not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) In order to prove to God that I trust what He has told me, I will need to act, taking steps to obey without tangible evidence that what He has promised will come to pass.  I must proceed as if God is faithful to do what He said He would do, because He is.

Love

In the world in which I live, love is given with the expectation that I will receive love in return.  I love those who love me.  In God's kingdom where Jesus is king, however, love is what drives everything.  Love melts the hardest of hearts, binds together unlikely bedfellows and tears down the most well-crafted walls.  Love is the currency by which my salvation is bought, my place in God's family is secured and my sins are forgiven. (John 3:16, 1 John 3:1, Psalm 103:11-12)    Without it, no amount of good deeds or righteous work will matter. (1 Corinthians 13)

Therefore, since I am so well-loved, I am called to love. (1 John 4:19)  Sometimes it feels as if I have nothing left to give.  In such times, it takes faith to respond in love to the one who constantly treats me with disdain, or to give a friend another chance, or to turn the other cheek, opening myself up to even more abuse.  

When love is the last thing I feel, it is then that I draw from the deep well that God has poured in me.  When it seems that love is nowhere to be found it takes faith to open up the floodgates of my soul and let the compassion and kindness God has stored there spill out.  When my heart senses only pain and suffering, I must believe that God can use me as a doorway of His love.

Mother Teresa knew a little something about love.  She learned through her life's work of reaching out to the lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor, in the worst areas of India.  Those who were shunned and forgotten became the center of her attention.  There, in the slums of Calcutta, she found the source of this love that flowed through her.  She said, "I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no more hurt, but only more love."

God's love is not limited by my weaknesses, my inabilities or my shallow understanding of it's mysteries.  Instead, His love is a never-ending source, a bottomless well that supplies my days.  Since I cannot touch, see or often times feel this love, I must trust God at His word, believing that when I step forward in faith, His love will flow through me.  (Ephesians 3:16-19,Lamentations 3:22-23,Isaiah 58:11, Psalm 136)

It takes faith to commit to loving those who are not always easy to love, believing that God's love will never fail.

Sacrifice

It sounds like such a selfless act devoid of any pleasure.  To sacrifice means to give up something valuable in order to bring about a certain outcome, secure a particular purpose or reach a specific goal.  It involves giving up one thing in order help someone or do something else.

Parents often make sacrifices for their children, giving up certain activities that would take them away from their family, forgoing once-pleasurable pursuits to make way for more appropriate pastimes, or to do without certain luxuries to make room in the budget for the necessities of child-rearing.  As a parent, I am not unaware of sacrifice.

In my walk with God, however, I am reticent to give up much.  Instead, I often spend a lot of my time trying to preserve what I think is valuable.  To follow my Shepherd, though, it means I'll need to let go of many things that threaten to overshadow His guiding presence.  

Sometimes its my possessions that get in the way, keeping me from truly living with abandon.

If I'm to hold Him as most valuable, I must be willing to give up things that get in the way without the assurance of compensation.  

Other times it may be necessary to give up destructive friendships that fail to draw me closer to God.  Instead, these relationships tend to work as a distraction, tempting me to live as the world does or to question the very foundation of my faith.  If He's my number one relationship, I must be willing to let go of certain people without any guarantee of restoration.

Then there are times when I must release my desire to control, letting God choose for me instead of insisting on getting my own way.  If I want Him to be Lord of my life, I must be willing to let Him have His way without the security of knowing what the future holds.

In each of these instances, it takes faith to give up what I can see in order to receive the unknown God has saved up for me.  No matter how good it may be, I still must believe enough to take the step to release what I have in order to collect what He will give me.  It's kind of like letting go of the rope as I hang over the edge of a cliff so that I can grasp a hold of the hand of the rescue personnel reaching down to save me.  There is no guarantee that I won't fall to my death.  Instead, I must grab hold to my savior by faith, trusting that he will haul me up to safety.  

It takes faith to sacrifice what I have to grab hold of what I can't see, believing that God will supply more than I could ask or imagine.  (Ephesians 3:20)

Forward

The stinging in my eye was unbearable, causing tears to flow and inevitably, my nose to run.  As I attempted to accomplish the tasks on my list of things-to-do, I closed my eyes to slightly relieve the discomfort of the unseen foreign object in my left eye.  Maybe I scratched my eye, I thought.  I should have been more careful when cleaning out the garage.  I guess a fleck of dirt must have scraped across my eye.

As I attempted to negotiate the steps with my eyes closed, I realized how much slower I walked when I couldn't see where my next step would land.  I proceeded cautiously, afraid there was some hidden danger even though I knew the layout of the house like the back of my hand.  Still, without the benefit of my eyesight, I couldn't be sure.

This experience reminds me of what it's like to walk by faith.  It is hard to move forward into the darkness, not being sure of what lies ahead.  I tend to take baby-steps, shuffling forward timidly, insecure about where the Lord might be leading me.  Instead of trusting Him boldly, I'm afraid to move from the spot where I find myself rooted.

It takes faith to take God at His word and believe that He can use me in a way that is foreign.  If I'm unsure of how to teach a class of high school girls, I may hang back, waiting to see if someone else steps forward to accept the challenge.  Meanwhile, God keeps reminding me that He equips the called, not the other way around.

It takes faith to quit my job with no guarantees of a better prospect, believing that God will provide for what He is leading me to do.  If I'm afraid to live so recklessly I might hesitate, wondering how wise it is to live so irresponsibly.  Meanwhile, God keeps reminding me that He is my Father who knows my needs and will faithfully supply them.  

It takes faith to let go of my fear when facing a life-threatening illness, believing that God's sovereign plan will bring good out of the suffering.  If I listen to the doctor's prognosis, I might be tempted to mourn my circumstances and all the misery I might soon experience.  Meanwhile, God keeps reminding me that He created my body and is perfectly capable of healing what ails me.  

It takes faith to move forward into the darkness believing that God is right there by my side lighting a path for my feet.

Just as Samson's mother acted in faith when she prepared for the birth of a son she thought she'd never have, I can also take God at His word, believing Him enough to act before I have evidence of the outcome.  I can love without reciprocation, sacrifice with no guarantees, and move forward blindly.  In each instance, my faith is proved true when I leap before I can see the ground where I will land.  After all, faith without deeds is dead.  (James 2:26)

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to love those who don't love me.

When do I hold onto things as a kind of security blanket?

How is my faith proved counterfeit by my unwillingness to step forward into the darkness?