Thanksgiving & Faith

God knows more than we do. He can see the whole picture - we can't. He wants what is best for us. (Jer. 29:11) He asks us to have faith in Him; to trust Him. He tells us that He will always be there for us. He will always come through for us. We can readily believe that when things are going well. We tip our hat and say: "What a great God!" and go about our day. The problem in faith occurs when we are in the midst of the mire and there is no visible relief. The problem occurs when times are hard and getting harder. The problem occurs when we are in the situation so many of us are in right now.

In the dark night of doubt is is easy to get discouraged. It is easy to wallow in the hopelessness of the situation. It is easy to say "Where, God, are you now?" In those times, I say, give God thanks. Thank Him for what He has done. Thank Him for what He will do. Thank Him for the good in your life. Draw near to Him with a thankful heart and the surety that He is sovereign-He is God, and He has the desire and the power to change your situation. Look up with tears in your eyes and say with Job "Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him." (Job 13:15) Have a great Thanksgiving!

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Proactive/Reactive Faith

I have come to the conclusion that there are two types of faith. Yes, there are many shades within those types, but nonetheless, two basic types. The first is called reactive faith. It is the faith that you can choose to excercise when you are faced with a difficult situation – you lose your job, you receive a bad diagnosis from the doctor, your marriage is in trouble; these are all examples of reactive faith. Reactive faith helps our faith to grow and is incredibly important if we want our Christianity to be more than empty words.

There is another type of faith, though. I call it proactive faith. It is found in Isaiah 6 when the Lord calls out and says "Who will go for us, whom shall I send?" Isaiah answers "Here am I, send me." Proactive faith looks to God and longs to be used by Him. It says, "God, I want to see you glorified. Whatever you ask of me, no matter the cost, that I will do." Then that person goes and does it. They don't worry about the obstacles standing in their way, but they move forward like Abraham when God told him to move to a distant land. The next morning Abraham picked up his tents and moved.

There is a new call to the church. It is a call to proactive faith. God is looking for Christians who have the brazeness to seek God for what He wants in their lives, and then to do it. Are you that person?

By the way, my book, "Sowing and Reaping Pizzas" would make a great Christmas gift for someone who wants a good laugh but also wants to grow in their faith. You can buy it here, or at most major online stores (Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc.)