Faith in Focus

I like this photo of Larry and Peggy, enjoying some time alone.

Larry is doing well. Here is a quote from him on his Facebook Page:

"God has been so good to me, to my family and my life. Sure it hasn't been easy and I don't know the future, which sometimes makes me worry wastefully, but I know He has a plan. Wait for it....Wait for it."

We can all continue to pray for the Wolf Family as they continue to seek God's Plan.

In John 3 v. 5 - 8 we can see Jesus teaching Nicodemus about having more focus on what happens after being "born again" than the actual event. Look at v. 7 and 8 " Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Nicodemus was focused on the impossibility of being born again. Jesus said in so many words that being "born again" should not be our focus. The impact or the effect of being "born again" and transformed into a follower of Jesus is where our focus should be. Many times a human being will not accept the RESULT of a change unless they fully understand the CAUSE of the change. Jesus is saying in a nice way, that it is more important for us to focus on the RESULT than the CAUSE. This is where faith comes in and trust that something miraculous has occurred and we need to embrace the winds of change. Let's face it, we will never know ALL that there is to know. God is doing His work, but how He does it or why He does it, may often times be incomprehensible to us. It is a matter of accepting the fact that we have limited knowledge and God has ALL knowledge. It is about us accepting His plan and moving forward with it in Faith, even though all the pieces may not make sense.

Last year my wife, Lori and I flew on a plane to Philadelphia. We boarded the plane and it took off and we landed safely several hours later in Philadelphia. When you really think about it, wasn't it a crazy thing to do? If I took someone that had no familiarity of air travel, they would have thought we were crazy.

Say we took a farmer from the early 1900's. I said to him, you give the airlines your money....you get a ticket....you board that enclosed wagon-thing with wings....it will go down that road (the runway) at 300 mph and fly like a bird, but faster. We'll fly over 30,000 feet ( over 5 miles) up in the air for four hours and then drop down out of the clouds and land safely several thousand miles away. We'll step out of it just like you would step off your local stage coach upon arrival. So let's go. He would say "NO WAY!"

Ok..... then why am I good with this form a travel? Do I have intricate knowledge of the safety of the aircraft I am flying on? Do I know the training log and experience of the pilots of the aircraft? No, but I see the RESULT of the safety of such travel. I have FAITH that the plane I am boarding and the crew flying the plane are experienced and know what they are doing.

How does this relate to what Jesus is talking about. Jesus is saying look at the result of faith in Him! Look at the result of someone having a life focused on Jesus. You can become familiar with how God impacts people's lives by seeing what God has done in those lives. We need to understand that God's ways are not our ways and He will reveal understanding of how He does things, but many times we will see the result of His work, but not HOW He did it. We as human beings need to be ok with this. We need to have faith in Him, and trust our lives to Him. We need to open our eyes to the successes being brought on lives that follow him.

I can say that being there at my sister Peggy's death, caused me to see the bountiful blessings Jesus has on his followers, even at the most desperate times of life. He blessed Peggy and He continues to bless those who seek His blessing. How does he do it? I don't know, I am just thankful He looks upon us with favor.

God has given us beautiful explanations of the things He has done and created. However, there are many things God does and will do that will not be clear to us for our entire lives. We need to be OK with this and have faith that God has us on a path that will bless us. God has revealed to us what we need to know, not ALL that there is to know.

Lord God, we know that Your plan is not always clear for us, but work with us to have faith that Your will and Your way is perfect. Amen.