Faith

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

I do not think that Faith is always getting what we want, that if we believe enough in things we don't have they will magically appear in front of us. I think Faith is trusting God even when the desires of our heart seem so far away.

In the book Heinds' Feet On High Places, Much afraid follows the promise of the Good Shepherd that when she reaches the high places she will have Heinds' Feet instead of the cripled ones she has when she starts her journey. Before she leaves on the journey she must have the seed of love planted in her heart. At first she is scared because she's heard love hurts but The Shepherd tells her how happy it is to love. When she is almost at the end of her journey and seems the farthest away from what she's been promised she is told that she must allow that seed and the plant that's grown to be taken out of her heart. She is devestated but she had said to The Shepherd even if He were to take away the very thing He promised her she would allow Him to do this.

I don't know if the situation I am in now is the same or not. I recently received news today that was very hard to hear and my plans to return to the UK have suddenly been frozen. What I had been trusting God to happen suddenly seems very far away. Does this mean I didn't have faith? Does this mean I've done something wrong? And I think it would be very easy to analyse the situation trying to work out the whys and hows...but I don't think it would do any good.

I've been reading through Job this summer with Russell and the timing has been very special. Job went through so much, more than I can even imagine or that's even comparable to any situation I've ever been in or
that I'm in now...yet in the midst of Job and his friends trying to understand what he did wrong and trying to justify the suffering, Job comes out with this amazing statement:

"Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him" 13:15

I do not think I can compare my circumstances to Job's by any measurement. What I have learned though, is that God is God and though we don't understand why or how in life, He is there, He is faithful, He has a plan and He will see it through. It might not look like what we would choose for ourselves, it might not look appealing in the slightest but I do know that if I trust God I will be more blessed than I can even imagine.

"The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first" 42:12

Best Let Sleeping Stephens Lie or The Night of Shrieking

Everything seemed rather normal Saturday evening as everyone was slowly retiring to bed. My parents were the first as usual and since I was the only one left in the house it was my turn next although significantly later. I turned the light of about 11:15 since I knew I had a meeting the next morning with my Church Elders and managed to fall into a sort of half sleep that was constantly disturbed by cats or small noises outside. About 2:30 I woke up realizing that I'd actually fallen asleep and had to get up to use the washroom. I was just leaving my bedroom when I heard some strange noises coming from Stephen's room. I later tried to imitate what I heard but failed miserably. The only comparison I can make is to that of a monkey or perhaps a hyena! These strange grunting/small howling noises were coming from his bedroom. I opened the door ever so slightly and whispered his name just to make sure he was ok. I was met with the most surprising reaction I've had in the night in a long time as Stephen sat up and backed against his headboard and let out a blood curdling scream. I said his name louder realizing he must be having a bad dream but he only screamed again. This happened about three times.

"Steve!"
"AHHHHHHH"
"Steve!"
"AHHHHHHH"
"STEVE!!"
"AHHHHHHH"

Finally Dad got up and went right into the room causing Steve to scream some more. Eventually he woke up and settled down. We learned later he'd been having a pretty vivid dream which we became part of. Instead of our lovely selves he saw grim faced figures entering the room whispering at him ominously.

I finished using the washroom and went back to bed somewhat disturbed at the whole incident and feeling a lot less like falling asleep. I was just settling back into bed when I heard strange noises again this time seeming to come from inside my room. Tired and half scared myself I bolted upright and let out a piercing screech of my own! I clamped my hand over my mouth realizing it was foolishness but not before I heard thumping from my parents room and my Mother coming to find out what the heck was going on. She was thinking that there had to be an intruder in the house and was starting to contemplate how much it might hurt if she had to jump out her bedroom window!!

Needless to say it took us all a bit of time to fall back asleep as we were all fairly alert after that.

The moral of the story? When hearing fellow family members talk or make noises in their sleep, it's best to simply let them lie.