Faith Like This…

   If you have been following my blog posts over the last several months, then you know that this verse is becoming my life verse. I want to be that woman who believes the things that the Lord has said to me. The woman who heralds the arrival of these promises before they are even visible on the horizon. The Lord has been speaking to me a lot about faith. For years I knew the verse that defined faith, but I don't think I ever really understood it. "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." -Hebrews 11:1 Faith isn't just simply believing that the things that we desire will come to pass. It begins with a promise of God. Faith must be founded in His promises.
   I have been reading through Hebrews 11. I love reading of these men and women of faith and the ways that the Lord moves in and through them. However, the chapter says, "All these people were still living in faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance." (v. 13) These men and women who are commended for their faith never saw the fulfillment of the promise. The lived constanty in that wilderness between promise and fulfillment.
    We live in that same wilderness. It is in this in-between place where faith becomes tenacious. Abraham had the promise of the Lord. He knew that promise came through Isaac. When the time came to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham had to release the child that the Lord had given him, but grab hold of the promise. He had to hold fast to HOPE when all seemed hopeless and trust the Father's heart. That's the tenacity of real faith. It's not naiveté. It's not claiming whatever we want in the name of faith. It's hearing the Lord's voice and then trusting His heart in a way that makes you so unshakeably sure that "He who called you is faithful; He will do it." -1 Thessolonians 5:24. Real faith is steadfastly believing His promises when there isn't even a glimpse on the horizon because you know the faithfulness of the Promise Maker. (Rainbow photo credit: Lindsay Groenewald. Taken in Zomba, Malawi)

   I see this tenacious faith here in Nicaragua all the time. The people of Candelaria are a people of faith. In the midst of heartache, extreme poverty, and pain, they know the God who is faithful to reconcile, restore, and provide. They hold fast to His promises and believe Him in the midst of the wilderness.

   It's the prayer warrior who hears the doctors proclaim her daughter dead and yet continues to pray because the Lord spoke that He would restore her daughter's life. She stood in the midst of hopelessness and shouted down death in the name of her God who is life itself. And she saw the Lord raise her daughter from the dead.

   It's the mom who, although she's struggling to provide for her own children, opens her home to her nephew who was abandoned by his parents. She believes that children should be loved. She moves in faith believing that the Lord will provide for her as she loves the unloved. Daily it is a struggle, but she continues to pour out trusting Jehovah Jireh, the God who Provides. 

   It's the girl who has been repeatedly abandoned and rejected by her mom and yet continues to reach out in love. She trusts the Lord to care for her heart. She knows God, who is love. Because He first loved her, she will continue to love those who have yet to love her in return. With a fierce compassion and bravery, she continues to risk heartbreak and rejection believing that the Lord is a God of reconciliation and restoration. She believes that restoration will come to her family and that it will begin with her heart overflowing the Lord's love.

    These women embody real faith. They know the heart of their God. They believe that He is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do. Because of this steadfast assurance, they stand in the midst of hopelessness and boldly proclaim that there is hope. I long to have faith like this.