Do I Lack Faith?

Over the last year and a half I have walked through the darkest valley of my life with my daughter Katelyn’s inoperable brain tumor.  The greatness of so many people who have gone above and beyond during this time is overwhelming and we are oh so grateful.  

During this time, however, some have questioned my faith and why God would ‘do this’ to Katelyn.  Some have questioned why I haven’t believed enough for Katelyn to be healed.  People assume because she is not healed, that we obviously lack faith.  People still tell me today that God will heal Katelyn 100%; I just need ‘more faith!’  I have prayed and I know God is able!  It is not lack of faith!  Sometimes the miracle happens, most of the time it does not!  In both, the question of faith will always arise.

I know during the hardest moments of our lives that our faith is not ‘strengthened’ instantaneously; our faith is ‘released!’  I know during the hardest moments of our lives that our character is not instantaneously ‘built;’ our character is ‘revealed.’  AFTER, and only AFTER, some time has passed, then our faith will be strengthened and our character will be built; IF you allow it.  That faith strengthening and character building is preparation for the next circumstance of your life that you don’t yet see coming!

IF you are going through a difficult situation (financial, health, job, family, tragedy) that hasn’t gotten better, then know these four things: 1. God did not do this to you!  2. Have no fear if your circumstance does not change.  It does not prove you lack faith and it definitely does not prove that God does not love you!  3. When you realize that God is all you have, then you will realize that God is all you have ever needed! 4. Listen!  Slow down each day and listen for the whispers of God in your life!

Romans 8:35; 37–39 (NLT): Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?  Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?... No, despite all these things,   overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer,

Chad

The Crossroads

There are so many crossroads in life that I can look back on and wonder what my life would be like if I would have turned a different direction.  My parents divorced when I was ten was an undesirable crossroads for my life.  Graduating high school provided a clear crossroads for my life that I chose the path to a degree in electronics for the money.  Later I went back to school for my Master of Divinity for the call of God and my passion.  Heather, my wife of 22 years now, was a crossroads.  Mitchell, my oldest son, was born with Down Syndrome was a crossroads.  Foster care was a crossroads in our life that has been tough and rewarding at the same time.  Adoption was another crossroads that has taught me more about the love of God than any other single event in my life.  Katelyn’s, my middle daughter, inoperable brain tumor is a crossroads. 

You see, there are many crossroads in our lives.  Some are choices we get to make for ourselves, and others take us down a path we neither desired or chose to happen.  The major problem with crossroads in life is that we either lean on our intellect or our emotion to decide the path we take.  We live in such a fast paced world that often times we just run right through the crossroads and never slow down to really ponder our next step.  We act as though we don’t have to make a decision if we don’t acknowledge it.  

I find a very intriguing verse in the Bible that talks about the crossroads of life.  In the upcoming weeks I will be preaching about this verse, and I hope it will become your verse and that you will actually use it to help move forward through the upcoming crossroads in your life.  Those crossroads you get to decide and those that crash into you unaware and uninvited!  My own intellect or my emotional outcry will never provide the best path for me to take.  At the end of the verse that I am using it reads, “But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’”  I know this, if you want ‘rest for your souls,’ then you must “stop”, then “ask”, and then “travel its path!”

I don’t know what you have previously endured, what you are enduring, or what you will endure in the future.  However, I know Jesus loves you and has a purpose for your life despite the circumstances that hurt you in a real and lasting way.  God desires to give you “rest for your souls.”  Will you do it?  Will you “stop?”  Will you “ask?”  Will you “travel its path.”

The Bible reads in Jeremiah 6:11 (NLT), “This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’”  Here is your next crossroads: Will you travel the path God is telling you to go?

In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer, 
Chad