Growing in Faith

Simon Birch is one of those love-hate movies that seemed tremendously profound last week, but I would probably be ashamed to watch with anyone else in the room this week. So first off, let me say that I'm NOT recommending this as a good family movie for next Saturday. That said, I was deeply impacted by the message of it recently. It is basically the story of an unwanted, deformed little child who grows up in a very hostile world by himself. But in spite of all the odds stacked up against him, he still has the faith to believe that he was created by God with a unique purpose.

Over the past months here at Morningstar, faith has been something the Lord is beginning to teach me about personally. You would think someone who moved off to go to ministry school would already know something about faith, but I'm beginning to see that I had more of a head knowledge without any real experience of how to live by faith. I'm more of a pessimist by nature. During our faith course assignments (similar to street ministry), we had some tremendous failures followed up immediately with amazing divine appointments. It was comical that we could fail so miserably, walk across the street, and have an amazing ministry experience at the next assignment. I wish I could explain why we failed so badly, but I honestly can't figure out why the Lord would allow such failure, and then provide such blessing. But what I did begin to understand was that if God had taken so much care to arrange a divine appointment for us to minister to a single mother in a gas station parking lot at 9:43 pm, He certainly knew we were going to mess up everything at the grocery store at 8:12 pm that same evening. We had divine appointments every time we went out to minister, and I'm really beginning to understand that God sees everything, and that he is paying attention to the details of our lives.

Seeing God move this way time and again has begun to transform my mind from the pessimistic, discouraged person that I have always been, into a man who is full of faith. I'm beginning to actually believe that God sees the problems and difficulties that I am facing today, and that He is already planning on how He will save me out of those troubles.

Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, and the substance of things not seen. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. Faith for Abraham did not consist of having 15 children running around his legs by age 40. Faith for him was being 100 years old with no children, and holding firmly to the promise that God had given him. In the same way, faith for my family is not in having our lives, finances, and housing plans figured out for the next 10 years. It is in knowing that if God has truly called us to come to MSM, He will help us work out the other details when the time is right. When the Lord called us, we gave up a great job and moved to a location where I can no longer work in my training. But through our time here, we are beginning to realize that there are vast, creative ways for the Lord to provide for us and keep us holding firmly to faith in Him. I am beginning to believe that God takes care of those who follow him, and that my best provision will come as I am obedient to His voice.

The following poem has become one of my favorites. I hope you like it:

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will:
It's all in his state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You'll ever win that prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.

Attributed to Author Napoleon Hill circa 1973