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Faith that stands … quite remarkable! Ephesians 1.4-14

Faith that stands … quite remarkable! Ephesians 1.4-14

To read: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%201.4-14&...

Good Day.

We were just leaving Danny’s early morning soccer game today, (about a hundred miles from home), out in the high desert of southern California, and stopped at Starbuck’s on the way out of town. When I walked out with my Sumatra in hand, Danny decided he wanted to grab a snack himself. ‘Go ahead, I am going to go talk to this man sitting over here…’

I had seen the old guy on the way in, noting that he looked like someone who would show up every morning, just to start his day with a cup of strong coffee—just ‘cause its what he does. (A hundred years ago, his horse would have been tied up at the hitching post—you know, that kind of thing, though today he looked more like he had stepped off a Harley.) Whatever, something caused me to go back and chat it up a bit with him.

‘Hi, so can I join you?’ Probably of Native American descent, longish-white hair, in a long, combed-back ‘do’… he looked up and said, ‘Sure!’ ‘So tell me about you—how you doing?’ I asked, and smiled over at him, from behind my dark sunglasses in the early morning sunshine. And no kidding, the first thing out of his mouth was, ‘Well, my 12-year-old grandson just died from cancer—two weeks ago--it was on his brainstem, nothing they could do …’ ‘Oh, my goodness—I am sorry,’ I stammered. ‘Yeah—from diagnosis to the time he died—five weeks.’

The first good news was that I was prudent enough not to say anything more except, ‘that is something we will never understand—at least, this side of Heaven.’ ‘That’s right,’ he said, looking at me sideways, wondering where I had come from. ‘I am sorry for your pain … just so sorry.’

In short order, he told me the boy was his boy’s son. ‘He’s a strong believer though.’ ‘Your son?’ ‘Well, I’m talking about my grandson…but yeah, my son too. I faltered a little bit in my faith at first. Not now.’

I told him a little about me, then grabbed his hand, and asked if I could pray for him. Tears sprang to his eyes, he cleared his throat and said, ‘Well, yeah.’ It was beautiful and real—me and Philip and God, hanging out in front of Starbucks in Victorville.

Here’s the question—how could he not falter in his faith? Could anyone explain the death of a young boy from cancer? No one.

Yet, Philip trusts. And he believes in God. Indeed, he believes God is good.

‘Reminded me of another story I had just bumped up against:

Her heart had been broken … again. She was 45 years old, middle aged by American standards, and her heart had just been wrenched out of her chest. ‘See, after the great love match of a marriage she had struck with her husband, a ‘great Christian man’; he had turned on her, become angry, abusive and threateningly controlling. She eventually escaped, cloaking her whereabouts in secrecy. Then for the first time ever, she hammered out a ‘living’, starting from nothing all over again, since she had been a stay-at-home mom for 20 years; only this time she had three broken teen-aged children as well.

‘But God, this is not the way it is supposed to be,’ she thought. ‘I have done nothing but endeavor to serve you, and look at me—look at my life—look at the lives of my children! All I ever wanted to do is make a home for them—cook and sew and raise them to know you!’ Her life was coming down around her ears, with not much left to resemble that beautiful ideal.

Yet she trusted God. She never stopped trusting God.

She moved to a new town, made some new friends, and also met a remarkable man. Oh, he wasn’t the obvious ‘package’ she might have looked for, outwardly at least. But she was attracted to his heart, particularly his heart for God. She was younger by quite a few years, taller by several inches … but so connected to the heart and soul of her new friend. Only, within several months, he was diagnosed with a terminal disease, and a few months after that, he was gone.

Yet she has trusted God. She has never stopped trusting God. “God is so good,” she said and smiled ebulliently, as she shared her heart and life with our Women of Passion this past Thursday. ‘Thing is, we believed her, because she has been around since September, and we have only known her with a genuine smile.

Faith—faith not broken in the face of heartache—faith made stronger because of an experience with the God of love, who promises more than this life—life eternal with him. There is no other explanation for believing faith, even when life does not make sense … even when your heart is breaking/broken. God’s heart is still good, and Heaven proves that!

 
Be encouraged … stand strong on your faith in God.
Christine
PastorWoman.com

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