Faith is a Choice

For those of you who don't know, I read two Psalms and three devotionals every morning and I thought I would share my devotionals from yesterday morning with you. They were just too good to keep to myself and yesterday was one of those days where two of the devotionals went together. (I love it when that happens, don't you?) It seems like this is God's way of really impressing a point home to me. Grace for the Moment was especially good: "He gives strength to those who are tired and more power to those who are weak." (Isaiah 40:29).

"An example of faith was found on the wall of a concentration camp. On it a prisoner had carved the words:

"I believe in the sun, even though it doesn't shine,
I believe in love, even when it isn't shown,
I believe in God, even when He doesn't speak.

"I try to imagine the person who etched those words. I try to envision his skeletal hand gripping the broken glass or stone that cut into the wall. I try to imagine his eyes squinting through the darkness as he carved each letter. What hand could have cut such a conviction? What eyes could have seen good in such horror? There is only one answer: Eyes that chose to see the unseen."

Isn't that wonderful? This was just so powerful to me. To believe even though "it doesn't shine, isn't shown, and doesn't speak." How often we doubt because He does things in His own time. That's one of the most difficult things for us to learn as we go through life. God does things according to His timetable. As humans, we are so rooted in time. We are so tied to those 24 hours each day, for those 365 days each year. When we're waiting for something, we demand it be when we think it should be, while God does things only when it is perfect to do those things. Being eternal and existing outside of time, God does things when it's best to do them. He sees past, present, and future all at the same time. We puzzle over this existence of the ever-present now, yet our children all live the beginnings of their lives that way. To a small child, a toddler, there is no such thing as time. He exists in a state of the ever-present now. He doesn't understand yesterday, today, or tomorrow. He is only aware of his needs right now, for this very moment. Everything is Now. Someday we too may live in a state of timelessness. When everything that is, is in the Now stage. Once we get that down we are so much better off.

Then in Streams in the Desert I read: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior" (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

"I ask you to observe what a disastrous situation is being described in this passage and to notice how courageous is the faith that is expressed. It is as if the writer were actually saying, 'Even if I am forced to undergo the extreme condition of not knowing where to find my next mean, and although my house is empty and my fields yield no crops and I see the evidence of divine pestilence where I once saw the fruits of God's plentiful provision, "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD." '

"I believe that these words are worthy of being written forever in stone with a diamond tool. Oh, by God's grace, may they be deeply etched on the tablets of our hearts!"

Isn't it wonderful the way these two devotionals, out of two different books, came together to paint a beautiful picture of God's grace and our faith in that grace?! I was really blessed yesterday by these two different devotionals. Especially the way one played right into the other. But we are to have faith like that. We are to see it as reality even though it's not yet here. We are to believe because God says so. No other reason. No signs or miracles are needed. We have God's Word, and that should be all we need. We believe simply because God says so. Can you see the faith there? To believe something is, with all our hearts even though it's not seen, just because God says it is so. These are faith building exercises; to believe even when it is unseen. I believe I am a child of God, even though I don't feel clean at all. I believe I am saved, even though I still sin. I believe God cares, even when things seem like they couldn't possibly get any worse. And I believe in God, even when it appears that He isn't answering my prayers. Yes, even if he slays me, yet will I hope in Him (Job 13:15).

There's just a little smoke between us and Hogback Mountain this morning. I sat there on the deck for awhile after my quiet time and just basked in God's glory. What an incredible God we have! And to think that he loves me? It isn't logical at all. It makes no sense whatsoever that this Great and Glorious God would care for the likes of me. But He does. We don't deserve Him but we possess Him. He lives inside of each of us who profess Him. "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me" (Ps23). He is real. And He is here!

I have a cousin who lives in Weed, California, and she writes in her blog that they've had to deal with a lot more smoke these past few weeks than we have had to deal with. She says they've had a couple good days when the smoke had been cleared out by the wind but it's just been day after day of smoky skies for them. Hopefully all the fires will be out soon.

Stacy hasn't blogged since July. I hope they are all alright and not down with malaria or dysentery again or something worse. I've really missed hearing about their activities there in Liberia, West Africa. I still find it unbelievable the way they packed up everything and moved to Liberia the way they did. She and Dan with their 10 children. Steven has been visiting with them for the past few weeks. She has never stated, but I've assumed that Steven is a young man (late teens) from their home church here in the states. He has mostly worked with the children in the orphanage there locally. I think he has also gone with Dan in his street preaching. They just had amazing faith in all of this. They are my heroes. I know I couldn't have done what they did and I'm forever grateful that the Lord hasn't called me to such a life. But that when He calls someone answers.

I finally finished my Wiersby study in Romans. I now have a couple studies I could choose from or just continue with what I've been doing (reading the New Testament in the New Living Bible). What a wonderful translation it is. Just so readable! The version I have is written in really small type but even that can't keep me away from it. I am almost through the book of Acts and then I will move on in to the letters. I really enjoy reading from this Bible. I will eventually buy me a better version; one that's not so hard on the eyes to read.

We got really hot again yesterday and it's supposed to be even hotter today. August is not too late for another heatwave but I so hope we don't have to endure another one. It does seem to be cooling off a little earlier in the evenings now though so even if we had another one maybe it wouldn't be as bad. Just so I can sleep at night. I need a cool room to sleep in and the first week of July was awful. There were several nights when we just slept on top of the bed with the ceiling fan blowing down on us as well as the intake fans going in the windows. Last year's heatwave was so much worse than this year's. Last year we had to resort to hanging sheets and blankets over all the windows in a futile effort to avoid the heat that was coming though the window glass and it was just 100+ degrees day and night for almost two weeks. We were absolutely miserable.

There are hints of fall occasionally. The sun is setting more to one side than the other now. (It's either more south or more north, I don't know which.) All we know is that it comes in the window from a slightly different direction. Occasionally the late afternoon will just get the "feeling" of fall. Seems like we were just having winter and I couldn't wait for us to have spring then summer. Of course, I never look forward to summer because the heat and I just don't get along. But the time does seem to fly by anymore. I guess time flies when you're having fun. Isn't that what they always say?

Thank you, Debra, for suggesting little hats for my bald head. I really hadn't given that any thought. My sister loaned me some knitted caps but they look so hot (and probably are) but I hadn't thought of just looking for some hats. That's a great idea. I think I have decided to go shopping on Thursday with M after all. He has an 8:00 appointment which means we'll have to get up early to be there on time. But I won't have to worry about what my hair looks like! It's about a 45 min drive from here to the clinic and then it's probably another 5 miles to WalMart and K-Mart. But it will give me a chance to look for something else besides bandannas. I'm just so thankful that my bangs didn't fall out. I mean, that is just God's graciousness poured out to me. The whole top and crown fell out, but my bangs and around the sides of my head stayed. So when I have on a bandanna, hair shows all the way around it. No one would even know I'm bald. Amazing, wondrous Lord, the God of all comfort.

I have things I should be doing and I've been here for over an hour writing this blog so I think I better move on along to other things. I need to run out to the post office since neither one of us went out yesterday and I think I need to go by the store and pick up a loaf of bread for sandwiches. Yesterday I mixed up a big batch of Tuna salad for sandwiches and so for dinner last night we had a big salad (a scrumptious salad!) and tuna sandwiches. For the salad I used hearts of Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, purple grapes, avocado, shredded Parmesan cheese, and sunflower seeds with my sweet raspberry vinegar dressing. Tonight we've decided to have Eggs Benedict. (We eat a lot of breakfast foods for dinner.) Anyway, I need to get busy. If everything goes according to plan I will blog again tomorrow. Debra, again, thank you so much for you encouraging words and thoughts and, I'm curious, where abouts do you live in this great big world? I am in northern California about 90 miles due east of San Francisco, in the foothills of the Sierra mountains, in Calaveras County. It never ceases to amaze me how often I find people any where from right next door to England, Canada, and Africa.