In March of 2022 I wrote a blog about having faith. Within that blog I talked briefly about my desire to live and teach in Hawaii. I talked about having radical faith and the struggle I had faced as I worked to figure out if this was my will or God’s will. Well, almost two years later…it is pretty clear that it was God’s will for me to be here, to be in this place, on this island, during this time. If you know me, or know any piece of my story, no matter what you believe, you know that I was meant to be on Maui during such a time as this. During complete chaos and tragedy, God used me in ways I never could have fathomed. And as I look back on the last two years of my life I see God’s faithfulness showing up time and time again. For me, to get to this place of faith took a lot of confidence, but not in my ability, rather in God’s.
For the Lord will be your confidence. Proverbs 3:26a (AMP)
From reading over Proverbs 3, we see so much of what this confident trust from the Lord gives us:
- Wisdom (v.21, 35)
- Peace (v.24-25a)
- Goodness (v.27, 28)
- Love (v.29)
- Intimacy (v.32)
- Humility (v.33-35)
In order to create, build, live out this confident trust, we have to believe in God. That is the bottom line. In Matthew chapter 21, we see three un-related passages, and yet they all talk about belief.
Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.” Matthew 21:21
In Matthew 21:25-26, we see that the priests do not believe, they were misguided and confused.
And in Matthew 21:32 we learn that it is our belief in God that our eternity hangs on. To get to heaven, we have to believe.
All seemingly random verses within this one chapter, but when examined on a deeper level, we see this theme of belief woven throughout. Blessing Offor has a song called Believe and it has been on repeat for me lately. The lyrics of this song humble me and remind me that my belief in God, in who He is, that is enough.
But what if you know something I don’t? What if you will something I won’t? If you don’t give me what I want. But you give me what I need, is that enough to believe, believe, believe, believe in your love? (Blessing Offor, “Believe”)
I still have to work at my belief, I still need God to help me in my unbelief. I have to read the scriptures. I have to be alone with God. I have to journal, pray, and worship. Sometimes, even when I don’t want to. Because it is in those moments where I can be the most vulnerable with God and that is where He transforms me the most.
“Faith involves trusting God even when you don’t have all the answers.” ~Nicky Gumbel It is a choice we make, to trust God anyway. We see Job do that, time and time again in his suffering.
“But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.” Job 23:10
Job’s unfailing belief in God, that is what I want. I have a lot of faith; I have a lot of trust but, I doubt God. I walk through periods of my life where I question God’s goodness. And yet, it’s almost as if that is what God has expected from me. In these moments of weakness, we learn that God is our strength, God is our comfort and He is our protector. And in us, He creates an unfailing love, one that someday will make us pure as gold. Because He knows exactly what He is doing. He knows exactly where we are going.
Love and Blessings,
Radical Road 