12/01/2011
James 2:26: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without deeds is dead. (NIV, 1984)
When in your life have you
taken a great risk and followed what you believed to be God’s will, even though
some friends and family felt your decision to be foolish or irrational? How did
you feel in the midst of that time? What happened at the end?
I am on the job market out
looking for a job. As some of my friends got phone calls and emails setting up
interview, my heart struggled a lot: frustration, a bit of depression,
disappointment, and a growing sense of powerlessness. “God will lead you to a
good position that He has already prepared for you,” my friend prayed for me.
To me, this is “déjà vu.”
I kept thinking of the time
when I was applying for a doctoral program six years ago. My prayer was that
wherever God wanted me to go, I would go—but not without His comfort and peace.
A car hit Annie (a friend who participated in an iron-woman race) while she was
on her bike. The wound forced her to see a doctor months later. It turned out
that her join had some severe problem. “You should consider yourself lucky that
old lady ran you over” (with an exaggerated expression) said the doctor.
Annie’s take-away was that, God sometimes had to take extreme measure to get
our attention. The intent and results were all good, though we might disagree
while in the midst of that particular incident.
In the early stage of my
doctoral program, I prayed for funding every year. “Father, if you want me to
stay, to finish the degree, please provide the resources for me. If not, give
me a sign, comfort me, touch my heart, then I will leave with peace.”
One of my all
time favorites is “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the
peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, NIV 1984)
With all the
uncertainty ahead of me, I have peace (at least for now.) There are risks to
take, but don’t we all learn from taking risks and benefit from them? And if
our eyes are truly focusing on the right thing, won’t we be motivated to do
what we are called to?
Faith in life
ain’t sugar-coated cruel reality. Faith in life is active, peaceful, and
trustful.
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