This past Sunday I provided a glimpse into Abram' call to leave Haran and move toward the promised land. He was asked by God to leave behind all the familiar elements of home, family, security of the community and the multiple gods of the area, and venture to a new place, just based on the word of God, "I will show you." Pretty scary stuff for most of us. But the response of Abram, to go from his home and trust God to lead him to parts unknown are considered the hall mark, or the bedrock of faith. St. Paul writes that Abraham's faith in God was counted as Righteousness, even before Jesus came along. It was that kind of ultimate faith in God that really makes a difference.
So what kind of challenges does God give us today, that might approach the type of request to get up and go with God that Abram faced 3900 years ago? I think learning to trust that God will provide rather than depending on our ability is a lot like that. We do feel secure in our own ability, our own handling of our choices and issues and situations, that we almost push God out of the equation and loose out on the benefit and the blessings of faith. Abram was blessed with descendants, though a long time coming, land, though he didn't really feel like it belonged to him at first, and the blessings that the whole world we eventually know in the descendent of Abraham, Jesus Christ.
I want to encourage us to think more about God, than about our challenges that we get overwhelmed with. We often look at the problems we face and the size of the challenge, than the size of God and what God can do. It takes a leap of faith to learn to trust that God can work this out. And it takes a while to get there. It is not easy, but it's worth doing. We live in a world that has taught us and reminded us, and overwhelmed us with the idea, that it's all about us, and what we can do! We only relate to God in the absolute emergency situations when all our resources fail. Why do we wait so long, when God is going to help us from the beginning, just not in the way we thought it might be handled.
Faith in God needs to be developed to trust God that much. Trust in God will come when we take the time to be in connection with God. The connection occurs in several areas. Worship, giving God credit for all that has been created and all that God does. Nourishing the soul, is taking time to pray, and have a "give and take" conversation with God about the EVERYTHING of life. Prayer and meditation is reflecting on the Psalms and Proverbs, and teachings of Jesus and the disciples that we can find in the New Testament. We need to slow down so that our souls can be nourished, we are killing ourselves with hurry. Abram had to wait ten years, from age 90 to 100 before his wife Sarah gave birth to the promised son, Isaac. Waiting is not easy for any of us, that's for sure. But then if we are not careful, time flies by so fast, we celebrate a birthday with bigger numbers than we ever imagined.
Besides finding many ways to nourish the soul in meditation, prayer, reflection on what God is doing, reading good books on spiritual life, we also can connect and Embrace our neighbors. God has given us others who have experience the faithful life, who can share their journey and pilgrimages with us so we can grasp what God is doing. The more we know about one another from a divine relationship perspective, the blessings of their knowledge and experience can help us. I encourage you to consider finding a small group Bible Study or Sunday school class this fall to help nourish your soul.
The way God knew that Abram was going to have faith, was his willingness to pack up and go toward the land that God would show him. It was in action, that faith was demonstrated. We too can share our resources and share our time and energy in serving others, that will demonstrate our faith and trust in God and what God would like us to do. There are hundreds of ways to grow in faith by sharing your money, your time, your ideas, your experiences, your energy, your love, your availability in the life of helping to bless others in the life of the church. If you don't live near to North Bethesda UMC, I know there are other churches out there that will help you to grow in your faith if you get involved. Live by faith, trust God to show you where.
Keep praying and asking God to speak to you, and when God nudges you, get going, pack your u-haul with faith.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
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