Monday, February 7, 2011

"If this life I lose, I will follow You"....Faith

Listen to the song before reading my post.
Yesterdays sermon at church really hit me hard for many different reasons. We sang this song before service, and it is always one that I hear on the radio and really makes me think, but we hadn't sung it at church until yesterday.

 I believe the official title of Pike's sermon was "By Faith". Faith, according to the dictionary is "confidence or trust in a person or thing"; yes, that is faith but the faith that Christians have is so much greater, Hebrews 11:1 states "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of thing not seen." None of us were here to see the Earth created, or Jesus live and die on this Earth, but we have Faith; we believe with all our being that He died for our sins and will one day return. We have FAITH that the Lord knows what is best for us, and that He already has our lives mapped out. If we walk in obedience and in faith then we will live God's will for us.

 I have total faith in the Lord, but one thing I have always struggled with is letting go of total control. I am a planner and like to know when things are going to happen and how; but when I depend on my own plans, when I trust in myself instead of in God totally, it leads to destruction. We can't be "compulsive planners" like myself and claim to live a life guided my faith. The past year I have become so much better at giving God total control over my life; as Monroe says to me very often "Katie let go and let God", I don't know why, it always makes me laugh; but he is so right. And, yes there are times when I have to say the same thing to Monroe, but he is just in general more laid back then me, which has been a blessing to mellow me out a little. 

Pike used this quote yesterday, “True Bible faith is confident obedience to God’s word in spite of circumstance and consequences.” We have to have faith no matter what the circumstances are or what consequences might come; if we have faith that it is God's will we have to have faith. When we obey God regardless of the circumstances, its right, He will usher us home, He will use us to full fill a purpose that glorifies him. Back to the song "If I lose this life...I will follow". I think a lot of people think life is easy if you give total control to the Lord, but the exact opposite is true, and the Bible is filled with stories that prove this. Hebrews 11 is filled with stories of people that lived their life obedient and faithful. 

This whole sermon on faith really showed me how far I have come in my faith, in putting total control in God's hands. I think about how hard it was and is for me to be so far away from my family; but I believe with all my heart that it is God's will and that He has a purpose for Monroe and me here in Dallas. Monroe and I have seen so much of how God is working in our lives and how He is using us in others lives. We have no idea what God has in store for us in our journey ahead, but we know that if we stay faithful and obedient our journey will be filled with lots of laughs, tears, successes and failures, but we will be happy and fulfilled living out God's plan for our family.  

I said  the sermon hit me hard for different reasons, 1. was realizing how far Monroe and I have come in our faith both as individuals and as a couple. 2. Pike is leaving Park Cities. I cried for most of the day yesterday, I can't believe he is leaving. He is moving to Tyler, to be the head Pastor at First Baptist Tyler. His faith and obedience to God's will in this situation are a true inspiration. He will be greatly missed but know he will bless so many people at his new Church.  

2 comments:

  1. "I will follow you"... that's so hard for me to grasp. Sometimes I think, "God, I can see myself doing this and this, but DEFINITELY not this!!" How is that going where God goes, staying where God stays, moving where He moves...? I am like you- a total planner. I hate not knowing the future. But God has funny ways of putting us in places where we CAN'T plan, where we CAN'T be in control, but we have to "let go and let God" (I can hear him saying that now :)). Katie, this is such a great reminder of how incredibly amazing the grace of God is... not only does He call us to live in faith, He grows us and changes us to be CAPABLE of walking in faith. It's a gift that we truly don't deserve. It's so encouraging for me to see what God is doing in your life in Dallas... and a reminder to ME that I need to walk by that same faith in Clemson (and wherever God takes me next). The best part of our walk with Jesus is His promise... that "I'll never leave you nor forsake you." We're not alone. :)

    I love you :) YOU are a blessing!

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