Walk in Faith

For this past week and last, I have been "pondering" a lot of things in my heart. Oh, things like nature and natural disasters and how no one can control them. Cancer and how an innocent child can get it. The newspapers and nightly news on television display the wickedness of men. So many things are unsure. We double check our doors at night before going to bed, and make sure our cars are locked with a bar across the steering wheel if we run into the grocery store. We try to guard our secret password when we are at the check out counter as we pay for our groceries with our debit card. We give our children specific instructions when we are not with them as to how to protect themselves. We question whether a beggar on the street is begging for food or drugs and how should we respond.

I read an article in USA today that stated an average of eleven pilots test positive for alcohol consumption every year. Thirteen tested positive this year. That is while they were flying and tested when they got off the plane! Another two pilots had their license revoked because they were on their laptops and forgot about the time. An hour later, they realized they had passed their airport. All of the people on those planes had put their trust in those pilots that they would get them safely to their destination.

We have learned it is not safe to trust everything and everybody. Not everyone is interested in our well being... or for that matter, even cares who we are.

So... living this life has to be lived by faith. It is true that we have no guarantee of what tomorrow holds... good health, financial struggles, sickness, family concerns... we have no promises... that everything is going to be alright according to the world's standard of living. But we do have God's promises.... and here are just a few...

"I have loved you with an everlasting love..." Jeremiah 31:3

The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him. Psalm 145: 17-20

Shout for joy O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. Isaiah 49:13.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Hebrews 13: 5-6

Though life is filled with it's uncertainties... we can live a life of faith, knowing that God is in control and knows everything that is going on in our lives. Sometimes things happen that just do not seem fair. We are mistreated, abused and maybe taken advantage of. Jesus suffered all of these things for us, even giving up His life for us. We will not live in a perfect world until we reach heaven. Praise the Lord! He made it possible for us to live there with Him. Not only that, we will be able to see our loved ones who have gone before us... who lived lives of faith. Hebrews talks a lot about faith... sometimes... we do not see the fruit of our faith while we are living on this earth... but it doesn't change the importance of having it and trusting God.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not received the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. Hebrews 11:32

We have no way of knowing what God's plans are for us... but we do know that He has our best interest at heart... and that through faith... we know He has something better than we can conceive planned for us..