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Facing the Unseen

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.   1 Timothy 1:17 KJV

Life sometimes hands us unforeseen results. It happened to me when the sun came up one Sunday just as it had always done. We dressed, went to church, and got ready for the communion service. Then just as I was setting up some special music at the sound board my cell phone rang.

The call was from our son who was in despair because his wife had walked out the door that day and he didn’t know what to do. That moment all of our lives were changed as if we had been hit by a lightning strike. We did not do everything right. We certainly did not know all the answers but we did drop everything and desperately prayed for God’s help as we drove some of the longest four hours of our lives as parents.

black leather strap silver chronograph watch

Photo by Jatin Anand on Pexels.com

I wish I could say that everything worked out: It didn’t. I wish I could point to a rosy happy finale to the scars it has left on our family but it hasn’t happened that way Only God’s grace and the presence of His Holy Spirit have seen us through.  We have at times faced the invisible forces of  anger, disappointment and fear. But we are still standing, in faith and still trusting God. We have learned that only Jesus sees the unseen and only He knows the way through to victory. He is our invisible God and who watches over us through the night of despair to the day of victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Friends

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Some friends are like the city streets

They find us in the throng

Rushing to our emergencies

Not afraid when things go wrong

 

Others are suburban lanes

Who come to sit awhile

Patiently listening to our fears

Encouraging us with their smile

 

But a few God makes like country roads

Quiet – as a sunrise warms

Peeking up above our mountains

Silently shining through our storms

A Childlike Faith

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And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3 ESV

Having childlike faith right after conversion is no trick at all, but holding on to it after decades is nothing short of a miracle. Believing God can do anything seems simple and then we discover our Christian friends getting divorced, falling into substance abuse or walking away from their faith. So what can we do to keep a childlike faith? We have hope because of three words: when, where and who.

When?  “How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed” go the lines from Amazing Grace. So ask yourself, “When did faith bring God’s grace to me? Was when I was looking for Him? Was it on a day I was doing good things? Or was it in an hour when of my worst failures and sin?” Our hope is a grace that began before the dawn of time!

Where?  When I discover I am lying flat on my face, I remember the second word: where. If I can have a childlike faith like the thief right next to Jesus on the cross, then I have hope. That thief looked like he was at the worst place on earth; but of all the people in the Bible only he received the guarantee of heaven directly from the lips of Jesus. The cross where Jesus was dying became the source of all hope for us all.

Who? But greatest of all is not when I found faith, or where I found faith, but in the God who chose to give it to me. My childlike faith is not because I have been a good child; but because my Father has come to my rescue and claimed me as His own!

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