Faith.

Ok so I am currently reading in my devo's the book of Isaiah and I will be honest... some parts get kind of boring when Isaiah writes about the fall of Syria or of Gad, Babylon etc... But as I was reading through the pages of this sacred book... I found one half of a verse that hit me right in the stomach. It was found in Chapter 7 verse 9b. I will give you the background to it... Judah is under siege by Aram/Remaliah and every attack they placed on Jerusalem was failing big time. Life was good for Judah, their king feared God, and their enemies could not succeed against their powerful military. Until they got the word that Northern Israel was going to join in on the conquest against them. You see Judah and Northern Israel (otherwise known as Ephraim) were split in two and after time became enemies (God seemed to sided more to Judah because they feared his law more then Norther Israel did)... Anyways, when Judah got word of this, The Message Paraphrased Version (It is a paraphrase but that is another blog for another day) says the people "shook like trees in the wind." (aka they were crapping their pants because 3 armies is insane to go against and they did not have enough supplies to take on all 3)... In the same fashion as God always does though, He comes to Isaiah the prophet to Judah and tells him to give them this message from Him... He says, "It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all."

A couple of things I really like in what God said (besides thinking it is insane that God literally said this to them, and the fact that all of the Bible is God speaking to us, but once again another blog for another day...) First, I think what God says in regards of Northern Israel is awesome when He says they will no longer be a people in 65 years. Meaning: "Hey why are you afraid of them? In your child's lifetime, they will be wiped off the face of the earth." I just think that was an encouraging moment for Judah because the thing they feared the most had an expiration date and it was reveled to them. Secondly, the last line seemed to open my eyes to what God requires of us in regards to faith. I think that such a simple, but so powerful of a phrase being thrown in this situation, was so crucial for the people of Judah, and it is so vital for us today! Just say it to yourself: "If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all!" That is the Old Testament version of the New Testament verse found in Hebrews 11:6 saying, "Without faith, it is impossible to please Him (God)."

Let's make this practical for us... We are not being attacked by 3 nations and may not face the task of being undersupplied for overcoming this obstacle, but were are always bombarded with stresses from life around us and might seem overcome by all of these things. There may be no way out for us... but God had a message that He gave to Isaiah to write in His God-breathed scriptures to remind us... If we cannot stand strong in our faith in God, then how the heck can we stand at all? The reason for this is because when we hold onto God for our strength in all situations, we find that He will hold us up. In Isaiah 40 He says, I will put stressed and tired people, young and old, strong and weak on eagles wings and they will run and not grow tired. But that promise is not for those who second guess God (Like I do a lot!) but rather, it is for "those who trust in the Lord"... It may seem difficult for us to see God working in our lives though and His powerful voice can sometimes seem faint and empty... What do we do in that situation? Simple, you still trust Him. He is the perfecter and author of all of our faith. If we embrace God like the Father He is, then we will see His promises fulfilled in our lives.

It may not be all rosy situations and perfect scenarios daily, but it is the strength to overcome trials, the peace to walk through storms, the joy to embrace the pains of life with understanding, the humility to know that God will not be unjust in all these situations. That is what we get when we trust God. Not necessarily money, or riches or popularity or a nice car etc... we get one thing, HIM! When we understand how great it is to have Him, then we will always embrace Him and never fear at all. But people like me, who are always afraid, looking at worst-case-scenarios... how can I not embrace God with this hope given to me saying, He will see me through to the end of my situation, but not just the end of my situation, He will see me through to the end of my life and through all of eternity! We need faith, we need to understand that life sucks, but when we embrace the Father and have faith that He will see us through to the end, it is at that moment that we will be able to stand, not on our own, but with our Father holding us up. If you lack faith, ask for it. James says, you don't have because you don't ask! So stop being afraid of a situations and trying to solve it all on your own, humble yourself and get on your knees and ask God for faith, ask Him for His strength, and His understanding, but ultimately, that His will would be done through your circumstance in life.