As you know by now, David faced many great hardships throughout his lifetime. He is able to see God's faithfulness again and again though, as he tells about being rescued by Him from a slimy pit, and being placed on steady ground. I'm sure there are many times you feel as if your life is stuck in the bottom of a slimy, slippery pit you just can't climb out of. But then we read what David states about putting your trust only in God: "Oh the joys of those who trust in The Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols."(NLT, vs. 4) There are man times we rely on other things in this world- boyfriends, girlfriends, sports, jobs, drugs, whatever. But until we truly believe that we need to come to Christ daily in admiration and longing to spend time with Him before anything else, we will have trouble keeping on that solid rock when hardships come. When we see the awe of His work in our lives, we will sing a new song to Him. Daily seeking Him will establish a firm foundation for you when those storms come.
Reading: Luke 8:40-9:9
We see a great example of what faith can do in this passage. Jesus healed and taught with such authority that He didn't need things like broadcast systems, power points, or sound systems. He spread the news through the people He encountered. Though there is nothing wrong with things like the technology I listed off, it is a reminder that we can't allow these thing to get to the heart of what is most important in our churches and in proclaiming the word of God.
We see how people came to Jesus who were ill. A desperate woman comes to Him and simply touches His robe, having complete faith that she will be made well. Jesus tells her that her faith has made her well. After this interaction, Jesus again brings a young girl to life, telling her family to have faith, and that it will make her well.
Jesus "advertised" through His ministry and the compassion He put out. He taught about faith and showed people what faith can do. Simply shoving a message on a big screen and yelling over a loud speaker may not get the same result as genuine love and compassion towards people. When we follow the example of Jesus, we need to remember to do what He did- love people and act on faith.
Reading: Numbers 31:25-32:42
Caleb and Joshua were devout followers of Christ, and because of their wholehearted following, we see how their faith comes into action in this reading. Because they followed God faithfully, God gave them the authority and power to carry out great things in His name.
Moses also warns against sin and not following The Lord in this reading, as quoted in 32:23: "...you will have sinned against The Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out." In verse 15, Moses tells the people that if they turn away from following Him, they will be responsible for destroying the entire nation.following God's Word and even having time to dive into it can be a challenge at times. When you hit those lulls and low points in your life, opening the Bible can feel like the last thing you want to do, but when you do, the light and healing can commence. Stay close to God, so He can use you in mighty ways as He did with Caleb and Joshua.
Faith is a tough thing at times. When we are faced with the heavy load of discouragement or the bottom of the pit of hardship, we can have a tough time keeping the faith alive in us. But when we press on through those times and continue to follow Christ wholeheartedly, we can allow ourselves to be used and moved through Him, to do His mighty work.
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