There is a fine line between faith and foolishness.
When I was a kid, I never had a good luck charm, but I always wanted one. I was a little envious of the kid who pulled a rabbit’s foot out of his pocket on test day. I mean, that is just plain, old, cool-beans.
I wanted to carry hope around in my pocket.
Not that I thought the rabbit was lucky; I mean, the rabbit did not make it after all. Even my eight year-0ld self knew that.
Sometimes I thought I could get a pair of lucky socks or a magical pencil that only picked the correct answer on multiple choice questions, because choosing “c” did not work as often as I had hoped; however, I would soon break my pencil or tear a hole in my “lucky” socks and it was all over for me.
Any hope of luck would be lost.
Some days we carry God around in our pocket and treat Him like a rabbit’s foot. Then, we call it faith.
We live however we want, make decisions without ever consulting God or His Word, and we get tossed by every emotion we feel. If you are menopausal, that is a lot of emotions. Then we ask God to bless us, our decisions, and our lives. (At first I wrote “livers”, and while I am sure we all want a blessed liver, I really meant “lives”. For the record, of course.)
When things go wrong, we wonder what happened.
Why did God let me down?
How could I fail?
I was living by faith.
No, my friend. We were living with God in our pockets. We did not have faith, we had a good luck charm in the shape of a cross. We reduced the God of this universe to a Genie in a bottle. If we rub three times and make a wish, it will be granted.
That is crossing the line from faith to foolishness.
We cannot do whatever we want, whatever our emotions, circumstances, or good fortune drive us to do and then ask God to bless it.
Living by faith means asking God what He wants from us, what He wants us to do, and then it is trusting He will see us through as we act in obedience to His word.
Faith is seen in obedience. Faith is finding out what God wants of me and then doing it. It is doing my part and then trusting Him to do what He said He will do.
But without faith, it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him. ~ Hebrews 11:6
Can you think back and remember a time when you put God in your pocket, treated Him like a good-luck charm?
I can.
amen. I think I need to print this out and keep it for constant reference.
I also think we kinda think God is Santa Claus and just ask him for stuff, but I like how you point out that living by faith is doing what He wants for us. Good stuff!
Yes! Yes, I can. Vividly. 14 years ago, I wanted a child in my belly so very badly. I waited for 4 years for that to happen. 4 years doesn’t seem long to others who have traveled much rougher roads to motherhood. But, to me? It seemed like eternity. And I kept thinking that if I wished on this star, did that Bible study… it might happen.
I loved this post. A printer, for sure!
Thanks for the great thoughts to ponder. Hope you have a wonderful week. :O)
Oh, how we all too often forget about obedience, especially when we focus on ourselves. But even in that it is our faith and trust in God that brings about the true change in our lives, our hearts and minds that gives us the desire to please God and to walk in obedience.
Praising God for your faithfulness in this, to post for 31 days and to share your heart with us.
Loving the 31 days of Living by Faith so far!
Glad to hear it.
~FringeGirl
I have to honestly say I felt that way when my dad died. After my mom passed I had what amounted to a calling to the ministry, I began steps toward going to seminary. When my dad died a year later I was crushed and feeling like that wasn’t supposed to happen. Like where was my reward for taking up the calling? I dropped out early in my discernment, and really that was for the best because I needed to grieve and raise my babies. I now have the clarity to see that it was all for the best at that time, but also that the calling itself was real. Nowadays I spend my time open to serving wherever I can, being open to things that I never thought I’d do, or that I really didn’t want to do. Like being a den leader for cubscouts…it’s a lot of work, but it’s a way to help steer these boys into a positive journey in their own faith as well as community. I totally didn’t want to do it, but there I was. And now I have a better understanding. I love where I landed, and I feel like where I am now is the answer to prayers.
It is really, really difficult to see God in the times of crises. We only know what is going on with us, our loved ones, and the world around us. We cannot possibly see the big picture or understand what God is doing. Sounds like you had one of those times, but it also sounds like God has been taking all those circumstances and turning them into a wonderful ministry in your life.
Thank you for sharing a piece of yourself. It is encouraging to see how God works.
~FringeGirl
Crossing the line from faith to foolishness….this line alone could be the title of another article..brilliant~
I don’t mind squeezing another day out of that line. I still have 27 more days to go!
~FringeGirl
What a great and true comparison! (I especially liked the livers part
I’m enjoying your 31 days series!
Well, we all want healthy livers, right? It’s important.
Thanks for reading along. You have a pretty awesome series of your own going on right now! Although I don’t relish the thought of writing on the same topic for 31 Days, it’s nice to have a focus and at the end, a completed project.
~FringeGirl