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Are you putting your faith into action?

Time for me to have and share a pep-rally......


"we gotta stop asking for relief.......and start showing some belief"



Ouch.Guilty as charged.

So, Benjamin Franklin once said "God helps those who help themselves".

Now although the majority of what we learn in the Bible about God helping the helpless..... I do believe that we, as Christians can fall into the trap of inactivity. We are taught that God will provide according to His timing, but this should not stop us from getting off our keesters (to keep this a PG-rated blog) and believing His Promise, trusting His Word and putting our faith into action.

Sometimes being a Christian isn’t always easy. Sometimes we have to roll-up our sleeves and do the challenging work of following Christ, and stay obedient to God’s Word..... even when we don’t want to or it seems to difficult.

This also applies to our daily living. For example... like many of us....financially, things are stretched super tight around here. My part-time job of doing hairdressing is not cutting it.

(no pun intended, but can I get a ba-dum-dum *cymbal??)

*crickets chirping*


OK, lame.....anyway.

I trust and believe that God will always provide for us.....as He has always done. Even when the numbers do not jive.....supernaturally, we end up having just enough money each week, even if our balance is 2.97 right before the next direct deposit is coming in.

But I am growing tired of treading water.....feeling the waters rise, bobbing up to the surface for a few days....only to feel pulled under when the next bill shows up or an unexpected repair comes about. Bottom line......I am looking for an additional job. So I can pray and ask God to help me find one and while it is in His power to do so, it is highly unlikely that God will cause employers to come looking for me. I must get up and out, hit the pavement.... and look for one. I will set out trusting that there will be a job for me. I will not give up, I trust God.....but it is going to require alot of effort on my part as well.

In our lives, we will come across winding paths of uncertainties, setbacks and signs that read, “Road Closed.” However, these are not dead ends, but merely detours as we move toward our destined purpose. We need to keep the faith, take these potholes in stride, and move ahead boldly. We cannot let challenges discourage us.

The New Living Translation of Romans 12:11-12 tells us " Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying."

This message can also be applied to our spiritual connection with Christ. Sometimes I feel so distant and I long to feel Christ beside me (even though I know He is always there.....) That same passage in the New International Version reads "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

The word "fervor" literally means "to be hot, boil or glow." There is metaphor of boiling water and our spiritual life. The idea is that there must always be a stirring up or a heating up in our spiritual life as we pray and serve. We need to keep it that way. In order to keep water boiling we have to keep it on a flame. We need to constantly work and tend to that fire. That takes effort.....it takes action on our part.



I'll wrap it up with this story, you've probably heard it before, but I'll share it anyway.....

It's the one about the preacher in the flood. The water was up to the top of the church steps when a National Guard truck came by. "Get in, Preacher! The water's rising."

And the preacher said, "No. I trust in the Lord."

The water rose and flooded the church. The preacher climbed up on the roof. Two boys came by in a John boat.

"Get in, Preacher! The water's rising."

And the preacher said, "No. I trust in the Lord."

The water rose higher, and the preacher climbed up on the steeple. A helicopter came by and dropped a sling.

"Grab the sling, Preacher! The water's rising."

And the preacher said, "No. I trust in the Lord."

The water rose even higher, and the preacher drowned. In heaven, he said, "Lord, I had such trust in you. Why did you let me drown?"

And the Lord said, "Dummy! I sent you a deuce-and-a-half, a john boat and a helicopter!!"


The meaning of this is that the Lord helps us by giving us the means to help ourselves. And He expects us to do that.


So I ask myself.....and possibly you can ask yourself.....Do you feel that God is ignoring your prayers/requests? Or could it be that He is stalling so that we will stop acting helpless and put our faith into action?


Peace~

*~Michelle~*

11 comments:

Bill (cycleguy) said...

IMHO I think it presumptuous to know you need something, to ask for it and then put your feet up on the desk and say, "okay God do your thing." While I don't believe works saves you I do believe that part of faith is "do." i do believe that God will open THE door for you when it is time. Blessings Michelle as you look for God's open door.

alicia said...

Michelle- SUCH a great post! Our Bible study this week is delving into "waiting on God" and what does that mean to us as Christians. What are we called to do through that? I am going to share this with them if that's alright with you!

Your employment search reminds me of my good friend who was unhappy in her job- she had a resume ready to go and was driving around, and praying "Please God, if this isn't what you want, let me know..." She turned the corner and her chinese food spilled all over the resume- she never did re-do it. Sometimes we're called to act, sometimes we're called to hold our horses. Its finding out which that I think brings us to our knees.

Kristina P. said...

Yes! I so agree with this. We need to act ourselves, and the Lord will bless us. I have friends who sit around, waiting for some miracle to happen.

~*Michelle*~ said...

Just checking in with my blog account.....getting strange issues.

Tracy said...

Appreciate the way that passage reads in both versions. It really is a balance; knowing that it's by God's power that anything of value will happen yet doing out part to put the footwork to daily life. It'll be easy for me to remember to pray for you about the job thing because I was recently blessed with a job which I enjoy but where the pay is bad so I'm continuing to seek a better paying job while maintaining good performance at the one I have.

More Than Words said...

I totally agree, Michele!!!! Wonderful post!!

~*Michelle*~ said...

Thanks everyone....I like how you phrase it, Tracy...it *is* about balance.

RCUBEs said...

It's hard to wait...no doubt about that. But I believe through that process, we are learning patience a great deal. If we can't wait here now, what's gonna' happen up there where everything is eternal?

I share with my child that thought...That when he prays about things, think about things that he can do, too. We can't always ask for His intervention when he is capable of doing things to help a problem...

Blessings to you sister. Been bothered by my allergy and I'm glad I'm able to visit you today. Miss coming here, too. Thank you for always encouraging me! Love to you.

Mich said...

I needed to read this and be reminded and encouraged. Thanks.

Have a beautiful weekend.

Laura@OutnumberedMom said...

Alicia sent me here, and I'm glad she did!

I'm like you -- I have to put feet to it. I do all I know with the little light I have, but then I have to back off and say, "You know best, Lord -- do with my feeble efforts what You will!"

Anonymous said...

I like the idea helping one person at a time. It doesn't seem so over whelming when you think about it that way :-)

God bless you Michelle

~Ron

 

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