Live. Today. {WITH} IN Christ.

So, if we believe that with God there are no mistakes, then coming up against a closed door is not a mistake. Rather, it is an opportunity to live today in faith ... {WITH}IN Christ.

Since the closing of the door, God and I have had many discussions about what it means for me to have faith in Him ... faith that he is acting on my behalf, working on my behalf even when I cannot see it or many times, in my case, when I don't see it. I know that "Faith is a verb. It's active and not passive. It's something you do. Decision making is a faith-building activity. ... Faithful decision making requires ... letting go of security. You cannot move in faith and hold onto the past at the same time. You have to move forward..." - Rick Warren (thank you Janis!) Warren goes on to use the trapeze artist as an illustration of letting go and having faith that God will catch you. I don't have much experience as a trapeze artist. However, I do have and am having experiences in taking one step forward and then another and another all the while not being able to see the road ahead of me. As in the past, that is my faith-building experience at present.

[IMG]http://i550.photobucket.com/albums/ii403/mihairosioru/teide/barcelona/msrt_road.jpg[/IMG]

See that drop off on the right? See the hillside to the left? See how steep? See how seemingly treacherous? See the fog? One step forward. One step. And, then one step of faith turns into two steps of faith. Then, three. And, then I find I'm walking deeper into faith {WITH}IN Christ. Sometimes the fog is so thick I can't even see the road right in front of me. Right now, faith is taking that step and believing that God has the road under my next step ... and it's not going to be over the cliff on the right or tripping and slipping on the steep hillside on the left. No. Surely the Lord is gracious and as soon as he hears my cry for help, he answers me. And, although this may be a way of adversity ... He will not hide himself from me, but I shall see him. And, my ears shall hear a word behind me, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when I turn to the right or when I turn to the left. - Isaiah 30.19-21

Warren says that "You cannot move in faith and hold onto the past at the same time. You have to move forward..." I understand what he is saying. There are things of the past that can keep us from moving forward. But, there are also things of the past that help us move forward. In fact, we need them to move forward. Those things of the past are the remembrance of Who God Is and what He has done. It's a very Jewish notion to back into the future always keeping your eyes on the testimony of God and his work on behalf of his people. Think of walking backward on the road in the photo! Now that is faith!

But, right now, I'm walking forward ... s-t-e-p ... by ... s-t-e-p. I don't know what kind of road you are walking - perhaps it is like mine where you are looking for your next place of work, but maybe it's where you are going to live or who you are going to marry or what kind of treatment you need for an illness or ... you fill in the blank. The road is foggy and seems treacherous and it's hard to see ahead. Well, here's what is true:

God made the hillside and the cliff.*

God made the misty, foggy future.

God made the road through it.

God was with us on the road we've come so far.

God will be with us for every s-t-e-p we take.

God loves us, hears us, answers us, is {WITH}IN us.

For God, our LORD, has promised:

I AM with you.

I will keep you wherever you go.

I will bring you to the land I promised you ... flowing with milk and honey.

I will not leave you.

I will do as I have promised.

- Genesis 28.10-17

Can I get an AMEN?!

Take a listen to Love Came Down from Bethel Church: (can't you hear Jordan Sturm singing this?)

*"God made the hillside and the cliff." If you read this as adversity... then, God made them to test me along the way in order to strengthen my faith, not to do me harm. At the time I wrote this a furious storm raged outside my window. Looking at the beauty of the photograph and seeing and hearing the storm outside ... my heart welled with wonder that God... the One who is Power above all other power... created this home for us. He made it for our good and for His good pleasure. The hillside, the cliff, the fog ... are blessings for me and you.