Wednesday, November 10, 2004
School Daze: Faith
As a new believer, I have found it amazing that the things I’m believing God for are actually happening. It’s not always “big” things that I believe God for, and even when *I* take something for granted that really is a matter of faith, I find the Spirit directs my steps and shows me my faith manifested. I find it difficult and interesting to think about the distinction between what I now believe in God for and those things I formerly lived my life believing in myself to achieve, obtain, procure, etc.
I give as a primary example of my this, even prior to being saved, my fall from grace and the big move back to North Carolina. I was a successful “Young Turk” in the business world, specializing in Information Systems and doing my geeky computer thing, working on Wall Street in New York City, living large, and dominating the lives of my staff!
That which I wanted, I easily achieved; my progress was steady and sometimes quite remarkable. I was full of confidence in myself and my ability to succeed in this world. I thought I could do no wrong and everyone loved me, my work ethic and my skills! Then the fall came: big corporate merger, and the inevitable downsizing. And for the very first time in my career, I was on the wrong side of that short list of employees who would be asked to leave.
I was shocked and depressed—how could God abandon me? How could I fail? How could I, the Impeccable Avis, be chosen for the group to be “downsized”? Around this same time, on a visit to Winston-Salem, I heard the voice of God tell me to “move here now”. And without questioning the logic of the decision, I started making preparations for the move, which was a huge undertaking that took over six months to complete. Though I still failed to understand what had happened in my career and “why me?”, and though it affected some of my close relationships to the point of breaking them, I was still driven to complete this long-distance move! And when I was done, as I settled into my new (well, not so new at all—my Grandma’s house) abode in Winston-Salem, it was just before Labor Day in 2001.
As all remember, shortly after that, the World Trade Center (which was a mere 5 blocks away from my former place of employment) and Pentagon plane bombings occurred. I understood then that God had beckoned me to come away from a point of danger because he was not done with me yet. I was in my new place, without my former resources, poised for my new direction.
The issue of trust became evident when I tried to apply my old skills to this new area, and found it was not working for me anymore! I questioned whether I’d followed the right directions in coming to Winston-Salem since I wasn’t succeeding, though I never doubted for a moment that I *was* hearing from God on this. My family encouraged me to continue trusting that God had a plan for me and it would be revealed in God’s time, and not mine.
During my early times in Winston, I regularly visited and even worked for various churches connected with my family members. Now, you have to understand that this was *highly* unusual for me. Church was a thing that my mom and sister did. It was, in fact, a thing that practically everyone else in my family, *except me*, did on a regular basis and their faith was strong, but curiously alien to me. But this new church experience was getting comfortable, though I freely admit that I didn't really *get* it.
It was coming to St. Peter’s, where I *felt* the presence of the Lord in a church for the first time in my life, that I found my home and my spiritual family. After a few weeks of resistance I ultimately give my life over to the matchless guidance of Christ that finally allowed me to perceive what I was here for: to worship God, to praise God, to Know God, to ultimately bring others to God and help teach others this fundamental lesson: with and through Christ, all things are possible! ¶ 11/10/2004 06:24:00 PM
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” -- Hebrews 11:1
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” – Romans 10:16-17 NKJV
Note: you cannot see, hear, sell, taste or feel faith.
Faith is not about your emotions or your senses.
Faith is not about your emotions or your senses.
This was my seventh week assignment:
To give examples of areas in my life in which I find it hardest to trust God and why; and to further delve into the Word to find out what it says about faith and develop a plan to apply that word to my life in order to strengthen my faith.
As a new believer, I have found it amazing that the things I’m believing God for are actually happening. It’s not always “big” things that I believe God for, and even when *I* take something for granted that really is a matter of faith, I find the Spirit directs my steps and shows me my faith manifested. I find it difficult and interesting to think about the distinction between what I now believe in God for and those things I formerly lived my life believing in myself to achieve, obtain, procure, etc.
I give as a primary example of my this, even prior to being saved, my fall from grace and the big move back to North Carolina. I was a successful “Young Turk” in the business world, specializing in Information Systems and doing my geeky computer thing, working on Wall Street in New York City, living large, and dominating the lives of my staff!
That which I wanted, I easily achieved; my progress was steady and sometimes quite remarkable. I was full of confidence in myself and my ability to succeed in this world. I thought I could do no wrong and everyone loved me, my work ethic and my skills! Then the fall came: big corporate merger, and the inevitable downsizing. And for the very first time in my career, I was on the wrong side of that short list of employees who would be asked to leave.
I was shocked and depressed—how could God abandon me? How could I fail? How could I, the Impeccable Avis, be chosen for the group to be “downsized”? Around this same time, on a visit to Winston-Salem, I heard the voice of God tell me to “move here now”. And without questioning the logic of the decision, I started making preparations for the move, which was a huge undertaking that took over six months to complete. Though I still failed to understand what had happened in my career and “why me?”, and though it affected some of my close relationships to the point of breaking them, I was still driven to complete this long-distance move! And when I was done, as I settled into my new (well, not so new at all—my Grandma’s house) abode in Winston-Salem, it was just before Labor Day in 2001.
As all remember, shortly after that, the World Trade Center (which was a mere 5 blocks away from my former place of employment) and Pentagon plane bombings occurred. I understood then that God had beckoned me to come away from a point of danger because he was not done with me yet. I was in my new place, without my former resources, poised for my new direction.
The issue of trust became evident when I tried to apply my old skills to this new area, and found it was not working for me anymore! I questioned whether I’d followed the right directions in coming to Winston-Salem since I wasn’t succeeding, though I never doubted for a moment that I *was* hearing from God on this. My family encouraged me to continue trusting that God had a plan for me and it would be revealed in God’s time, and not mine.
During my early times in Winston, I regularly visited and even worked for various churches connected with my family members. Now, you have to understand that this was *highly* unusual for me. Church was a thing that my mom and sister did. It was, in fact, a thing that practically everyone else in my family, *except me*, did on a regular basis and their faith was strong, but curiously alien to me. But this new church experience was getting comfortable, though I freely admit that I didn't really *get* it.
It was coming to St. Peter’s, where I *felt* the presence of the Lord in a church for the first time in my life, that I found my home and my spiritual family. After a few weeks of resistance I ultimately give my life over to the matchless guidance of Christ that finally allowed me to perceive what I was here for: to worship God, to praise God, to Know God, to ultimately bring others to God and help teach others this fundamental lesson: with and through Christ, all things are possible! ¶ 11/10/2004 06:24:00 PM
