Faith is intrinsic to our lives. It’s exercised every day. We cannot even drive a car without trusting our skill and the vehicle we are in, or sit down in a chair without having faith it will support our weight.
Some say they have no faith, yet the art of science is faith-based, leaving room for human fallibility, questioning and supposition before any degree of certainties are reached.
So much of our lives are full of conjecture, questioning and making space for mystery. Christian believers sometimes doubt their faith is strong enough to take the weight of their expectations, hopes and dreams.
But what if we saw faith as a gift of grace? We’re meant to have more faith and trust in God than in our own ability to have faith in our somewhat wobbly faith as such. It’s God’s promises that are secure, His love remains unfailing, His mercy is without end and His word revered as our trustworthy authority, guidebook and training manual.
Despite our own worst fears, our tiny mustard seed-sized faith actually grows in adversity, is stretched during challenges and is made manifest when we are called to account. It is more apparent than we believe and it lasts eternally. So let’s keeping trusting and living into the answers to come.
faith lasts
it’s no fairytale
despite the odds we will find
our faith grows and lasts
©joylenton
Poetry Joy 
Amen! Grace is such a gift!
Oh yes, it’s the gift that keeps on giving, praise God! 😊💜
Joy this is so beautiful. Thank you!
Today, I am sitting with John 3:16 and what comes as I ask God to speak is “believes in Him” – the part I had never sat with before. I have sat with His love and His sacrifice in this verse, but not “believes in Him” – not in myself, not in man, not in my deeds or acclaim or acceptance in this world – it is purely in Him- what a weight off my shoulders when I truly rest in that. And this is where I see Him speaking again through your post today: “living into the answers to come” is believing in Him, is proclaiming His promises over our lives and those we love and resting in His grace as you said here- in His ability to transform our unbelief into belief when we ask Him to. All He asks is that we come, that’s all. As another blogger who I follow said- “grace, all of it” when she explained that she couldn’t really blog on grace as asked to because she saw EVERYTHING in her life as grace. Thank You, Jesus! Oh how desperately I need it, but also how beautifully He provides again and again.
Anna, these words, “believes in Him” are hitting home to me too as both challenge and encouragement. Because yes, I do believe in God, in His power, wisdom, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, grace and love, and so much more, yet the sticking point for me is trusting that He will do the same for me as He does for others. Personalising my faith, in other words. It really does lift a weight off our shoulders when we rest in God’s all-sufficiency, not just for the world but for little old me.
I think I need to take to heart these words as well: “proclaiming His promises over our lives and those we love and resting in His grace.” Someone once asked me to share a story about grace and I faltered precisely because it’s the story of my life, not just isolated incidents, making it hard to know where to stop or start. You have provided me much food for thought! I’m so happy to see you here again, my friend! Thanks for being here and contributing like you do. God bless you. Love and hugs! xo 😊💜
Dear Joy, Oh this is so true! When we look back at God’s Faithfulness in our lives,we are amazed that against all odds, somehow HE has kept us going and growing! What sweet thoughts for a Monday and the beginning of the week. Love and Hugs to you! xoxo
Dear Bettie, that’s exactly what we need to do! Look back to encourage ourselves of God’s great Faithfulness, seek evidence in our everyday lives and look forward in faith that He will fully equip and see us through all that lies ahead. Good thinking, my friend! We build up our wobbly faith for today by reminding ourselves of His stability and Rock-like characteristics, His unchanging nature and unfailing Love. Thank you for reminding me of this important part of our faith walk. Blessings, love and hugs to you! xo 😊💜
I love thinking of faith as a gift of grace. Sometime we worry if we have enough faith, but He gives us what we need. And He is so much bigger! “We’re meant to have more faith and trust in God than in our own ability to have faith in our somewhat wobbly faith as such.” Amen. He is the one we trust and put our faith in.
Blessings to you, dear Joy! Hugs and much love! xoxo
Gayl, the longer I live, the more I see life itself as a grace gift, every breath a blessing from God. Yes, even during our darkest days we always have Hope of seeing change and Help coming just when we need it to. Faith grows as we exercise it and the flame can falter as we go through tough times. But when we look back, just as Bettie said, we can be reassured that the help we had then is still available to us today and God never alters in His love and compassion toward us. Then once we are on firmer ground again, we realise our faith has been tested and tried in the fire to produce dependence, patient endurance and trust from knowing just Who has shared the furnace of affliction with us. Blessings, hugs and love to you too! xo 😊💜
Reblogged this on Pastor Michael Moore's Blog and commented:
Thank you, Joy ❤️❤️
Thank YOU, Michael, for the beautiful way you honour God’s work in me. Bless you, dear friend! 😊💜