taking measure
by Elizabeth DeBarros
If your faith is not prepared to move mountains, what will you do with a molehill?
Feed your faith on the Word of God.
Be prepared in season and out —
Do away with gnats and flies that spoil the ointment;
Deal cleanly —
purify your lips.
Do justly,
love mercy,
walk humbly with your God.
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For further meditation:
Matthew 17:19-21; Matthew 23:23-24; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-3;
Ecclesiastes 10:1; Micah 6:6-8; 1 John 5:4
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After a destructive storm, waking up to the latest new normal means coming to terms with what to do next — after putting one foot in front of the other. Change is always a bit disorienting. It takes time to assess, adjust, figure out how to live amid the aftermath. If a crisis disrupts routine living days on end and you’re fending without power and water, there’s need for the practical: a sturdy pair of shoes, a supply of potable water, a working flashlight, a decent meal, a blanket or two, a shower. These, for starters.
The tragic loss of home or a loved one is a starker plight, an insufferable weight only His grace can hold. Even so, “weep with those who weep.” Does your faith allow for bearing the pain of strangers? I’m praying for bigger arms.
If guaranteed to suffer in the natural, we’re sure to suffer in the spiritual. Days of great change are upon us, sobering days of change — the kind that say, “Take nothing for granted.” But we mustn’t merely cope. If you’re a Christian, your most pressing need is to have faith. Not the Sunday-best for all to see — but the kind that helps you see in the dark on a Tuesday night, to strike a match to light a fire, to shine a lamp for others who’ve been ravaged by a storm.
Faith — no tool so useful, no light as bright.
What is the measure of your faith?
Does Christ live in you?
If He does, take heart; you have overcome the world.
A wonderful, much needed, faith-building exhortation in the midst of dark, evil and sobering days. I join you in praying for bigger arms, and all I can do is feed on the Word of God.
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Rom 10:17).
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Thank you for writing. God continue to inspire you! Robyn
Thank you, Robyn.
-E
I so much appreciated your insight, “But we mustn’t merely cope. If you’re a Christian, your most pressing need is to have faith.” Wow! Fleshly eyes scan the horizon looking for hope and resources to face another day, just to only find more disillusionment and disappointment….fearfully limping along, barely coping. If we don’t look with the spiritual eyes that come from the “faith that is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,” (Hebrews 11:1), we can do little but subsist….and have little left “to shine a lamp for others who’ve been ravaged by a storm.” Thank you, Liz. To the law and to the testimony!
To the law and to the testimony!
Thanks for reading, Cindy. Love hearing from you!
From faith to faith and from strength to strength…
-L
Change, loss, and “new normals” come in so many different shapes and sizes. I feel as though you wrote this for me. Thank you, dear Elizabeth. Much love to you.
Yes, Diane, so true. When I wrote this post, I intended the storm as a metaphor, but decided not to make it too obvious given the terrible suffering some people have had to endure.
Thanks for visiting me at my blog:)
-E