Lessons in Believing God

As I shared in the past few posts, I've been struggling a lot over the past few weeks.  I've been run down from traveling and sickness and overcome by a difficult personal trial.  For me, it's always a battle of mind over feelings.  I have a deep reserve of verses I go to during these times that try my soul (couldn't resist the quote), but I was still having trouble making the familiar verses fresh to my current situation.

As I've written about before, some friends and I have been doing Beth Moore's Believing God Bible study over the past six months or so.  It has had so many wonderful, challenging insights for me (ones that greatly impacted my travel to Kenya - but that's another post).  We have reached our final week of the study and of course God used the lesson to give me fresh truth about believing Him.

A main principle in the study has been "present-active-participle believing," or continually, presently, actively believing God.  Here is what I read yesterday: "Present-active-participle believing God awakens in the morning and says, 'My Lord and my God, I thank you for another day to know You and believe You.  Whatever means You may choose to increase my faith today, I commit myself to that glorious end.'"

"Whatever means..."  Anything?  I'm supposed to be okay with "whatever means" God chooses to use?  Most means, I can adjust to; but whatever?  Some things in life just stink.  Am I really supposed to view those as opportunities from God to increase my faith?  Of course I know the answer is yes.  I actually prayed in Kenya for greater faith, for more opportunities to believe God.  I had no idea what I was asking for!  God's answer to my prayer is just too hard! 

Continuing in my lesson, here is what I read: "Challenges will undoubtedly arise in our lives when God has every intention of bringing us complete victory, but He ordains that the process will demand our all."  Well, this challenge definitely qualifies.  I don't think I can take much more.  But, "God has every intention of bringing us complete victory."  He didn't bring me into this situation to see me fail.  He brought me here to show me victory through Him!  Beth continues, "The Lord Jesus Christ offers us the one and only way to wholeness: Giving ourselves wholly to Him, inviting His healing, and trusting Him to apportion our energies, gifts, and talents in their most effective ways...We give Christ our all.  And with it He does the impossible."

Some of the concluding thoughts from the lesson: "In Him alone life makes sense, and apart from Him all is chaos...Say to your soul, 'Behold and believe!'...When you have no idea what to believe Him for in a given situation, just believe Him to be huge.  Come, holy God, and be Thyself."

So I am believing God to be huge.  I remember in one of our video lessons, Beth was gesticulating animatedly and saying, "God, be big!"  I'm not quite that expressive, but I share all Beth's enthusiasm and fervor and say, "God, show up and be big in my life!  Show me Your glory!  Use this challenge that demands my all and do the impossible with it so You may get all the praise and honor."