Safety First

Safety First

“And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭14:23‬

This topic is specifically tough for me. And the only explanation I have is this; I have it but don’t use it. 

It is such a difficult thing for me and I don’t know why. At times when I should use it the most, I don’t. When I know I should let my grip loose on the things I try to control, I don’t. It’s so so so hard. 

Faith is like the safety glasses that sit in a drawer or on your work bench or hanging on a peg hook in your shop. They should be worn, but rarely are. It doesn’t hurt to wear them, so why don’t you?

They don’t get used for every job, but you have them because you should wear them. So many of us have them somewhere. Some of us know right where they are and we still don’t use them. Many of us have them because we know we should wear them, yet we don’t. Something probably happened to us or someone we know that necessitated us buying them. 

Using our faith is the same way. We will use it when we need to, if we think about it. We don’t use it because it’s an extra step. And we will be ok without it. Or will we?  

Like our faith, if we used our safety glasses every day, we would feel weird without them if we didn’t put them on. And that’s exactly how our faith should be. 

I get so frustrated at myself when I should rely on my faith, and I don’t. I’m sure many tried and true men of faith don’t struggle with this problem, but man, I sure do.  Faith is a tool I should use often and for my own good. It is priceless when it comes to showing glory to God. It’s the single most immeasurable thing we can do. 

Yesterday my wife and I were faced with a predicament. It was worrisome, stressful and brought about anxiety. We had to make decisions that no one wants to make and we had to make them because of money. 

Decisions are always easier when it doesn’t involve finances. During this predicament, our emotions became elevated, our stress went through the roof and tensions ran high. And this was all on my end. The person that appears to work less on her faith, appears to have much more than I do.  Appearances aren’t everything by the way. These decisions are always easier when you aren’t emotionally attached AND it doesn’t involve money. 

In either case, I was a horrible display of faith. It was easier for me to be angry and short and stressed. After all, that is how I responded for a majority of my life to difficult situations. Especially during a career in law enforcement. Especially growing up. It was a trained behavior. Well some of it. 

The short of it was this. During normal every day life there is plenty of faith. In fact, it’s easy to have faith when you don’t have to apply it. And when you need it, large amounts of it, you better hold on, because it will test you. 

Yesterday I was tested, and not by some large need. It was a run-of-the-mill, every day problem that required faith. And I failed miserably. 

During that time, I showed God that I was weak. And during that time He showed me that He was strong. At a specific moment in my lacking He provided something small to encourage my faith, and it did. A simple visit became a message. A message became a lesson. And because of a message and a lesson my faith strengthened.  God didn’t fix the predicament, He encouraged the faith to get through it. 

God has a way of using others to encourage our faith. To strengthen it. And just when you think you have it figured out, you don’t. Just when you think you have all the answers, you don’t even know the questions. 

We are a people of quick fixes and answers. Everyone wants the fix to everything and they don’t ever want to not be able to give the right answer. We’ve created monsters who lack faith in God. 

Yesterday God used very specific pieces of a puzzle that wasn’t completely put together to show me my faith. Albeit a lack of faith, once I saw in my own eyes how bad my faith was, it was easier to strengthen it. 

Only when we can see a weakness can we make something stronger. Because something that is strong lacks weakness by definition. 

Sometimes God doesn’t need to provide the answer, just the way to it.

Know that your faith will be tested. Because when you don’t have to use your faith, you haven’t been tested of how much you have. And when your faith isn’t being tested, that is the time to strengthen it. 

“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

‭‭James‬ ‭1:3‬

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139:23