In thinking about what I should “blog” about first, I considered introducing some personal facts about myself, discussing my lovely family or sharing my opinion on any number of things….but the truth is that it really only makes sense to first discuss that which comes first in my life (yes, even before my family) and that’s my faith. Faith in a creator God who exists in 3 forms as the Father God, His son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Hopefully, over time it’ll become clear why I have made the conscious decision to put Him first in my life and why I can confidently say that my lovely bride is glad that I put God first. For now, let me just say this – any contractor or architect worth his salt will tell you that without a strong foundation, it doesn’t matter how well you plan or build the rest of your house, it’s eventually gonna come crashing down around your head. In the Bible, Jesus explains it this way in discussing the value of following His teachings and putting our faith in God:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."
Matthew 7:24-27
In all honesty, I haven’t always heeded these words. In fact, through much of my adult life, I did what many of us do. I always tried to do things my way. I would try to will things to turn out how I thought things should go. In short, my ego was so big, that there was little room for God. In any case, my point is that I’ve chosen to build my life on the foundation of my faith in God.
With that said, what was really on my heart to share was the importance of faith during difficult times. It goes with out saying that there are A LOT of really scary things going on in people’s lives right now. During any given year, we all deal with illness, loss of a family member, disharmony in our relationships and financial stress. But the last couple of years, it seems like someone “set the burner to high”. It’s not even worth listing all the stuff going on in our country right now – we all know. But, at the same time, there are still amazing blessings in our lives all around us. We are still the most blessed country and people in the world. We enjoy things here that others around the world will never have. I’m reminded of this fact when I get to talking to some of my friends that have come to the U.S. from other countries – some as far away as the middle east, India, and Pakistan and some as close as across the CA border.
Dale Carnegie wrote a book called “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” many, many years ago. Chapter 15 of that book is still one of the most impactful things I have ever read. One of the habits I developed from reading that chapter was thanking God each morning for very specific things in my life. And I mean everything I can think of in the few minutes it takes to do this before getting out of bed – my family, my health, my job, my friends, my church…. By the time I get to…say…the 10th thing on the list, my mood is so light, grateful and happy that I can’t wait to start the day. I guarantee you there are always a ton of things on that list and for me, it’s about starting my day with “an attitude of gratitude”.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that even in the face of adversity, if we have put our faith in God, we should have no fear. Christians can agree that fear is the opposite of faith. Fear doesn’t give God any room to work. Like Francis Chan says in his book, “Crazy Love”, when we worry, we’re saying that our problems are bigger than Him. Really? Do we honestly believe that our problems and fears are bigger that the creator of Heaven and Earth?
Unfortunately, fear isn’t the only way we don’t leave room for God. Sometimes we rely too much on ourselves. Don’t get me wrong – confidence and self-reliance are admirable traits. But, when we try to do everything ourselves and will (sometimes force) things to go our way, we’re trying to impose our will and not deferring to God’s will. We don’t always have the answer to our problems and we will never have all the answers. I’m comforted by the fact that I have a Father God, who (much like an earthly father) has my best interests in mind and knows what’s best for me.
I think this topic has been on my mind for a while, because I am at a point in my life where both amazingly awesome blessings are happening and a couple of interesting challenges are looming on the horizon too. But, there’s an incredible peace in knowing that if I do my best to create solutions for things that I can control, I can give up to God the things I can’t control and know that they’re in the best hands possible. I am so grateful for and LOVE my life. Not because I don’t have problems, but because even problems provide me with an opportunity to draw closer to God and to strive to be more like Jesus. Because after all, if I call myself a Christian, shouldn’t I be trying to be more Christ-like?
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