“And now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn’t pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God’s true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers!” I Thessalonians 2:13 (The Message)
I spoke last time in Living in the Peace of His Promises that I believe the promises God spoke over our family will be fulfilled. I also stated that when they are fulfilled, I’ll be the first one to give God the glory and share how He used those promises in our lives for His purpose.
This is how I choose to live … in faith. God speaks numerous times in the Bible about having faith, how a little faith moves God, and how a person’s faith has healed them.
Faith is really quite simple; yet so difficult at times to live day in and day out. Faith means that when God speaks directly to me, personally, through the Bible, through a fellow believer, through other avenues that line up with His teachings in the Bible, then I choose to believe the words spoken.
Over the past four years, God has spoken quite a few promises over our family. They have to do with finances, ministry opportunities, and other areas in our lives. Some of the promises spoken have come true, some have partially been fulfilled and some we are still waiting to be revealed.
When I spoke earlier about how I had become one of the Israelites, it was because despite all the ways God has shown me He is moving our family in the direction He spoke over our lives, I was starting to doubt. I was letting worry and fear and doubt creep in and lessen the faith God had been building in me. I was asking God for more signs, more words, more … action because it had been over four years and I was ready to step into the Promised Land that He had spoken for our situation.
However, God reminded me that sometimes it takes me believing, claiming and living out my faith in His promises to be positioned to receive the blessings He spoke over us. At first I wondered what that would look like. Then I realized it was merely a simple shift in my mindset; yet it would make a big difference.
When living in doubt, it looked something like this: Waking up, living life constantly worried I was missing something, wondering what action God needed me to take in order to “make the promise happen,” and stressing out, ruining relationships, missing out on the joy of life and further doubting that I had heard God spoke at all.
However, when I chose to believe the promises I know God spoke (especially since He spoke them multiple times), claim them personally and then live them out, my life started looking something like this: If God has promised x, then I’m going to concentrate on the last command He gave me which was “finish strong.” How can I finish strong in this particular situation? Well, I have three major projects that need to be finished. I will work on those, not open-ended but with a specific deadline. While I’m working on hitting those deadlines, what other choices do I need to make to finish strong in the other areas in my life so I’m ready to step when He gives the command? I will need to schedule those appointments sooner rather than later and continue to praise Him for the answers that are coming even though I don’t see them yet.
It means living my life with anticipation. Instead of praying God will rescue me from whatever situation I’m in, it’s choosing to believe I’m one day closer to the dreams He placed in my heart and He wants to fulfill. It’s living with hope of the answered promise instead of doubt that He loves me. It’s choosing to ignore the lie from the enemy that my Father has forgotten about me or I’m not important enough to Him.
It’s not a genie-in-a-bottle type of faith. It’s an action-filled faith. It’s living from the standpoint of believing that the promise God spoke into my life will come true and then taking action steps in preparation for that answered prayer. Staying alert, ready and watching for the answer.
Believe it. Claim it. Live it. Choosing faith instead of doubt.
© Cheri Swalwell 2018