Into the Deep End of Faith

Is it just me or does life feel messy sometimes?

I feel like I can be going along and life feels kind of simple for a while and then wham, hit with something else!

Not too long ago my youngest brother was living life pretty fast and hard. Some choices he made were not in alignment with God's will for him.

He was in a pick up accident which almost took his life.

SO many broken bones along with serious head trauma! Just to name a few were his back, neck, face, ribs, sternum and one leg. The only thing not broken were his arms and they were full of glass. His lung was punctured and full of glass as well.

The phone call you get after an accident like that is kind of burned into your memory.

My dad was the first person to get the call. Before he called anyone else, he prayed the following verse for my brother.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10 (NIV)

The doctors were giving our family the worst case scenario. They said there wasn't much hope of him surviving let alone being restored to full health.

It was time to step out into the deep end of faith. As a family we could have crumbled and given in to the fear but we cried out for God's mercy and stood firm on His word. We spent quite a bit of time in prayer reminding God of his promises.

We let the doctors do their job and we did ours as a family, 

standing in the gap for my brother.

I won't lie and say it was easy. There were tears shed and frustrations vented. Many days of hearing the worst case scenarios could have threatened to steal our faith. The thief came to steal, kill and destroy. We were holding onto the promise that Jesus came to give us life abundant. (John 10:10)

We already knew God was in control and would never leave us. We also knew God is sovereign and His ways are higher than our ways.

Many times, well meaning friends would comment how nice it was to see us “hoping” he would be fully restored. It wasn’t just hope like we normally think of it. Not the wishful kind of hope anyway.

It was an expectant hope. A confident and assurant hope. 

In other words...it was faith!

There are no shortcuts to faith. We must spend time in God’s word so we’re ready to do battle when the tough days come. Arm yourself with God’s promises so you too can cut down any attack from the enemy!

God makes impossible things possible.

My brother is a living, breathing, fully restored, walking testament of God’s miracles. He will always have some scars to remind us of the battle God won!

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Marked for Christ

Scars can run deep. They leave a lasting mark that each of us handle differently.

My dad grew up in a home where food was scarce for quite some time due to his father leaving his mom with several kids in the backwoods of Missouri. The effects of a starvation mentality from a young age has definitely left  it’s mark on my him.

When he was young his uncle took him to work with him for job and afterwards they got a big steak. Uncle Hank told him, “We work hard and we eat well.” That has stuck with Dad. He has always worked very hard to make sure no one in his scope of influence goes hungry.

Being raised by a single mom, who was blessed by a church family that literally prevented them from starving to death, left another profound mark on him. Dad has always had a strong desire to help people out who are struggling, especially single moms.

The scars from Dad’s childhood could have made him bitter and had the opposite effect on him. But...he was marked as child of God and the Lord had His hand on Dad always.

I’m not saying he’s lived a perfect life or never made mistakes. He’ll be the first to tell you that too. He’s tried running from God’s calling on his life in the past. He was set apart to follow Christ and share the good news of God’s love with others however.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

The Holy Spirit never stopped pursuing Dad. After a big wake up call he realized it was time to throw off everything that hindered him and follow the path God had marked out for him.

When we run we look forward to where we’re going. We don’t try looking over our shoulders to see what is behind us. I’ll admit I’ve tried that and ended up on my knees. We’ve already seen what’s behind us so we’re well aware of it so we need to focus on the path marked out in front of us.

God has a path of faith marked out for each of us. We need only to keep our eyes focused on Jesus.

I, for one, don’t want to let the marks left on me from the past define me. As soon as I accepted Jesus as my savior, God put his mark of salvation on me and I want to share the good news with others! God loves. God saves.

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