By Faith

My mom and I often "joke" that you shouldn't memorize a verse or pray certain things (for humility, etc.) because then God will really do it. Joking is in quotes because obviously you shouldn't not pray certain things, but at the same time, God really does work on those things in your life. He is so faithful in that! Even after being humbled many times after those kinds of prayers and learning hard lessons through verses I've memorized, I often forget just how much God is willing and will work in my stubborn heart. I wanted to share one instance that is near and dear to my heart right now.

A few months ago, Janna, the lady who is discipling me, asked if I wanted to memorize the "Hall of Faith" chapter, Hebrews 11. Excited about the accountability and the chance to know more of God's word, I said yes. I set out to memorize them, thinking about faith and amazed at how much my forefathers lived in faith. I was (and still am) blown away by all the "By faiths." BY FAITH Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, BY FAITH Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going... and so many more! I thought some about how I could be more like them, but never really thought about how God would work in me to make those verses come alive in my life and to teach me to really live by faith.

Sure, I've heard all the stories of missionaries living by faith for food, money, etc. By the grace of God, I have not been tested in that way yet, though God may one day consider me worthy to bear that trial for His name. So I didn't really think about how else He would teach me to live by faith. As many of you know, the last few months have been really hard. Challenge after challenge has come up, and one by one, God has given me the grace to get through each one of them. Some I am still in the midst of, but God is with me holding my hand for all of it. Many of them I have no idea why they have come up. I knew God had a reason, but just in the last two days did I realize that maybe they have come into my life to teach me to live by faith.

Wow. That took awhile to figure that out. I am glad God didn't stop teaching me after I didn't understand the purpose the first couple hundred times. Obviously, I still don't fully comprehend, but maybe He is trying to teach me how to live by faith. I'm sure Abraham and Noah and all the other famous ones from Hebrews 11 weren't like, "Okay God. Of course I will move to a foreign place where I don't know anything or even where because someday I will be in the hall of faith!" They just stepped out and did it! Am I willing to step out in faith and follow Him? Will He be able to one day say, "By Faith Mindy...?" Wow.

I love that it doesn't just stop after all the "by faiths." Just today did I notice something super cool about verse 13. It says "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did NOT receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth." Cool verse, huh? I just realized that there are so many things in my life that may happen to teach me to live by faith, and I may never see the things promised. I may never see the fruition of so many tears shed, of hours on my knees, of hard situation after situation. I may just see them and welcome them from a distance. I love that it doesn't just say saw them from a distance. It says WELCOMED them froma distance. I can WELCOME the results living by faith. And there are things promised for me! In verse 16 it says, "Instead, they were looking for a better country, a heavenly one." I can look forward to a better country than this one on earth, and there I will see what God was doing on this earth to prepare me to serve Him and worship Him best. I will receive the things promised! I will miss out on so much if I do not live out my "By faiths!" The rest of verse 16 says, "Therefore, God is NOT ASHAMED to be called their God, for He hs prepared a city for them." How cool is that? Having lived most of my life ashamed of this and that, I love that it says God is not ashamed to be called their God. Oh, that I would live in such a way that God can say that of me!

So, my dear readers, that is my ponderings of living by faith and what God can do in this stubborn heart of mine. May I truly live out my "By faiths." For those of you who want to know more of the specifics of the "By faiths" God seems to have been teaching me, email me or leave a comment and I would LOVE to tell you more about the lessons He has been teaching me. This year has contained many of them for me, that's for sure. I am so excited to be able to welcome the things promised and one day see them in heaven, though on this earth I will most likely not receive them. It will all be so worth it! May you learn to live life "by faith." What an incredible journey we are on, and it is all so worth it!