Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Mature Faith

Moses named the place Massah (which means "test") and Meribah (which means "arguing") because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, "Is the Lord here with us or not?"  Exodus 17:7

Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him.  Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waters swept over the boat.  But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We're going to drown!" 
Matthew 8:23-25

"If God's goodness and faithfulness come into question every time life gets hard, we are not going to get where we want to be in our faith."  Rob Mehner

When life gets hard, is that where we go?  Do circumstances and heartache make us ask:
Is God even here at all?  Is God good?  Is God really able?  Does God care?  Has God abandoned us?  Did I miss a step somewhere and now He's left me? 
IS JESUS SLEEPING AND NOT SEEING WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE????

The disciples "followed Him" onto that boat and "without warning" a storm hit them and they didn't think they would live through it.

Mature faith will take us to: I know God is good in spite of what I can see and understand, God's got a plan that is working in ways that I cannot see,  He is with me and promised that He would never leave me......

I want mature faith, crazy trust in who He is, but I have to move past questioning His goodness and faithfulness.  Otherwise I am like a rat running on a wheel, around and around but never really getting anywhere.

"Once I settled the issue of God's goodness and faithfulness after my 14 month old daughter's sudden and unexpected death, I was good for life!  I never went back to that question again." 
Pastor Thomas

God is good, always with us, navigating in ways we cannot see or could imagine.  We can bank on that and move forward in faith and trust.