Guest Devotional - Sandy Mayer

I honestly believe repetition is the way we learn... and boy, does God use it! I keep hearing different lessons about "faith." As Christians, we may define faith as we have read in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see."

So why is God teaching me about faith? Is it because of all the prayer requests I have for jobs, unhealthy relationships, split marriages, cancer, friends and family that aren’t followers of Christ? I have asked myself, "Where is my faith?" But Jesus says, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20. WOW! That is encouraging!

This week, I was reading Francis Chan's study, "Crazy Love." It looked at Hebrews 11 where it starts with creation, looking back at all who had faith in God’s promises and were living by faith when they died. Some only saw the promises and welcomed them from a distance. Their circumstances didn’t change their faith. God was the object of their faith.

Sometimes we base our faith on circumstances and when they are good we think, "God is evident" But when circumstances are bad, we ask, "Where is God?" And when circumstances are really bad, we ask, "Is there a God?"

So how do you rate your confidence in God? In Luke 5:13 we read: "A man covered with leprosy fell to the ground when he saw Jesus , and begged him, “Lord, IF you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him." The leper had confidence that Jesus could heal him, but wanted to know if he was willing. So faith is the confidence that God can do what I ask him to do. The question is not whether God is able to answer our prayers just the way we ask, it is whether he is willing to.

I need to keep my focus on God and not on my difficult circumstances that God isn’t willing to change at this time. Got promises to reward those who earnestly seek Him - and that's motivation to remain faithful. I choose not to worry about unanswered prayers, because I trust God knows best.