Where is your faith?
Right now. Where is it?
Do you trust that the trial you are
walking,
crawling,
dragging,
skinning your knees on the ground through
is a result of God loving you and wanting your transformation?
Do you believe that
not being able to pay your mortgage,
not being able to give your children what you want to give them,
having to decide which bills are the most important to pay
is actually part of God’s grand idea for your life?
Where is your faith?
Do you pray knowing
God will hear you,
God will think your words are important,
God will actually stop, bend and watch your agony as you pray.
Have you stopped praying altogether?
Do you have faith that
your children will be protected,
not knowing the future is actually better,
and that disappointment and pain are necessary parts of the Journey.
Do you want to control?
When your children will not give you a moment to rest, and you don’t understand why everything you try seems to end in failure…when your husband is here but absent, when your relationships are broken…where is your faith?
Where is my faith?
My faith is tiny. Minuscule. So small at times I can’t see past the hurtful word, the tired heart and the blistered hands.
I want to control.
I want to lock the door so my children never leave and get hurt in the world.
I want to stop praying. I have.
I want to let broken relationships stay broken.
I really want to have faith…
But, my faith is in a God who is big enough to make up the difference. My faith is in Him who has given me life, and food on my table. My faith is in Him, even when I worry about my daughters and the mortgage. My faith is in Christ when I don’t know the future and I don’t even know the next hour. My faith is in Him when I am disappointed, crushed and trampled. I have to trust that He heals all that has been broken in me and around me.
My faith sometimes stands still. But most of the time it grows. Knee-scrapingly slow, but still grows. By inches. By millimeters.
Beautiful. I might have to put that on my refrigerator.
That is one of your best blogs to date.Gave me tears in my eyes.Touched my heart.
I AM THERE!
Beautiful words! Thank you for sharing. My faith is in HIM!! When life gets crazy & busy & not on track (at least the track that I am thinking)… I just keep reminding myself… God is here, God will guide me, God will help me through.
WOW! Big stuff…amazing. I think this is my favorite post so far! And ditto Christy, this will be going in my planner.
sarah you spoke directly to me. i agree with the others, this is probably my favorite post, and i too thought of printing it to put somewhere I will often see! thanks for the words of wisdom, faith and encouragement, my friend!
“Knee scrapingly slow”
I can identify. But, it’s growing, and while I’d prefer leaps and bounds, at times I’ll settle for knee scraping.
It’s better than backwards.
Sarah, I felt like this spoke to me today, given the day I had. Just when I thought I had gotten ahead, I went back 2 steps! I really need my faith today and the upcoming days. Thank you for reminding me.
your comments here have really touched me.
i am praying for each one of you tonight.
Your words truly blessed me tonight. God is working in my life right now-your words were exactly what I needed tonight…God bless.
The “dragging” seemed like me, but then you said “skinning your knees” and that seemed way more visually correct. Thanks for encouraging me today. It’s hard on a youth pastor’s salary and staying at home to make these kinds of decisions but it is so wonderful that we have a God who is truly in control over every aspect of our lives. I almost do better when things feel crazy because I know that I’m not in control and that is made evident my my reliance on Him during the tough times. It’s the “normal” everyday that I need to be reminded of Him more. Thanks again for the encouraging words.
this is hitting my printer right now…thank you!
what a great post Sarah and a much needed reminder.I will be sharing this with others! thank you for being His vessel.
oh i do have faith today! it came through lots of loss, but i would not trade it for anything!
loved this post
Holy stink I love this. Such a vivid reminder…
my faith waned for a while, but it’s making a comeback. i am still looking closely to see God’s hand in where i’m at right now, but i find myself more able to trust Him than i could even a month ago.
my husband had a long-term affair with a staff member and friend. and two months ago, he told me he wants a divorce. hard to see God when the bottom of my world has fallen out from under me. but i’m clinging with all i’ve got.
there’s nothing else i can do.
Wow, great post, great questions. I’m writing in my first ‘breather’ in a while. We’d cut everywhere else and the last thing we could cut was our rent. So we moved this weekend, in with a family from church. The kids are napping in the 3rd floor 350 sq foot bonus room that we’re renting, which contains the kids’ ‘room’, living ‘room’ and our ‘bedroom’. Sacrifice and change, for sure. But more than that, we feel overwhelmed with God’s provision, blessings, direction, the amazing family we’re living with and already learning from…and simplifying life is already a massive blessing. Yes, tough times but at the same time, not. We’re actually excited about this new adventure and season. God is good!
This is a beautiful post, thanks so much for the honesty.
Oh, and Annie says "Hi!".
I love this! So beautiful and true
I found you through Annie's blog! Thank you for encouraging me today!
I came over from Annie's blog. I absolutely loved reading this… such an encouragement to me. I needed to be reminded that God finds what I have to say to be important.
I love your honesty Sarah–your words feel so familiar, like they've rolled around in my own faith walk. I think in some ways we are all walking around with scraped knees–a subject I wrote about in my own blog recently. I love how God's people hear the same things from Him, independently of one another!
So glad I found your blog. My faith has been in the TOILET!!!!!
Absolutely LOVE this post. And just when I needed to hear/read it… Will definetely be sharing!
Sarah, when I read this post I started to cry: what you’ve written is my pain, that’s always there waiting to make me lay down and cry. Always there, just under the surface. Sad, lonely, hurt, always there. It’s hard to remember to hold onto God, that He’s got my back and has purpose in this. What is the purpose of the pain, of the disappointment, of the loneliness?? I wish He would tell me. I get that some day I’ll understand, even if it’s not till I’m with Him, but it’s very hard to hold on to that in the middle of the pain. Just wanted to share the tears for a minute. I’ll dry them up and get on with it. I’ll keep walking through it. I do know He’s with me, holding me, it’s just really painful some days. Thanks for listening, T
praying for you tonight, tracey.