The Challenge of Faith

Nadeem and I are both struggling greatly. We have lost the vision of returning home, which may sound surprising considering all the signs of God's hand at work, but remember that there is a battle raging. The enemy wants us to doubt and fall into despair. For you at home, when the weekend comes and we don't have approval, you feel sad and then you engage in your activities. For us, it means two days to wake up knowing there's no way we'll get the good news. It's two more days of watching the clock and longing for home. It's two more days for the enemy to whisper lies.
There's an intriguing and kind of disturbing story in the Bible about John the Baptist. He was a very humble servant of God who preached repentance in the wilderness and paved the way for Jesus. In fact, he even baptized Jesus at Jesus' request. An angel described him as "great in the sight of the Lord...filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb." (Luke 1:15). Jesus said "among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist." (Matt. 11:11). Here's the troubling part. For speaking out against what was wrong, John was thrown into prison. It's here that he sends the message to Jesus, "Are You the Coming One or do we look for another?" What I hear is confusion and hurt in his voice. He had been following Jesus, but then he was unjustly punished. Was Jesus really who He said He was? If so, why was John in prison? Well, the story only gets worse, at least from a human point of view. John ends up getting beheaded. Wow. That's enough to shake your faith. When Jesus heard this news, He went to be alone. God never intended the world to work like this. He grieves over injustice.
There is a beautiful description of faith in the Amplified Bible, from Hebrews 4:2. It says "faith is the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness." We can't understand God's ways. The challenge is to continue to trust Him, no matter what our circumstances or feelings say.
Thank you all at home who continue to paint a picture of hope when we are weary.
God gave us another amazing sign today of His hand. Now Fox 5 News has interviewed my mom! They ran our story on your Sunday night. (I guess they didn't want to be outdone by the competition!) You can also read or watch this story on line.
Here is a pretty poem that encouraged me this week:
I'm too tired to trust and too tired to pray,
Said I, as my overtaxed strength gave way.
the one conscious thought that my mind possessed,
Is, oh, could I just drop it all and rest?
Will God forgive me, do you suppose,
If I go right to sleep as a baby goes,
Without questioning if I may,
Without even trying to trust and pray?
Will God forgive you? Think back, dear heart,
When language to you was an unknown art,
Did your mother deny you needed rest,
Or refuse to pillow your head on her breast?
Did she let you want when you could not ask?
Did she give her child an unequal task?
Or did she cradle you in her arms,
And then guard your slumber against alarms?
Oh, how quickly a mother's love can see
The unconscious yearnings of infancy.
When you've grown too tired to trust and pray,
When overworked nature has quite given way,
Then just drop it all and give up to rest,
As you used to do on your mother's breast,
He knows all about it-the dear Lord knows,
So just go to sleep as a baby goes.
Without even asking if you may,
God knows when His child is too tired to pray.
He judges not solely by uttered prayer,
He knows when the yearnings of love are there.
He knows you do pray, He knows you do trust,
And he knows, too, the limits of poor, weak dust.
Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ,
For His chosen ones in that midnight tryst,
When He told them, Sleep and take your rest,"
While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed-
You have trusted your life to Him to keep,
Then don't be afriad to go to sleep.