I Want THAT Kind of Faith!

I am supposed to be completing my planning for a Bible study, but I simply had to share what I have learned today!! I have always read and heard to "meditate" on the scriptures when studying them...and I have to admit, that sometimes, I simply do not do this and get through my study time and move on in my day. But today, I came to the Word, expecting to "get through the lesson" and have been so grateful that TODAY I feel God is speaking to me through the scriptures. It has been amazing! One of my points in my study was to read the entiretly of Hebrews 11. Knowing what Hebrews 11 is about, I was going to skip reading it, but knowing that was not the right thing to do before trying to teach about it, I read it...again. But THIS TIME God spoke to me through the same scriptures I had read before...and I just wanted to share.

Hebrews 11:9 - "By faith he (Abraham) made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country;..." YIKES! Where was this scripture when I needed it a year and a half ago! I looked at this and thought, WOW! how cool! I now know how Abraham may have felt...making his home in a place God led him to but feeling like a stranger in a foreign country! Abraham, I believe I've been there too!!

Hebrews 11:13; 11:39 - "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised." I was having one of those afternoons...you know, where I didn't feel like I was doing the right thing or handling my emotions in the right manner, and I was reminded, through this scripture, of a poem that I had read on a friend's blog (thanks, Heather) a while back, entitled "I'm Invisible." In it, it talks about the beautiful cathedrals that were built way back when (you know, all the ones that you visit when you're on vacation in Europe) but no one will ever know who built them, but what blessings they are for us to visit and worship God in. It likens the builders of these cathedrals to us as mothers "building" our children...no one may see all we do, but God does. I could feel God smiling down on me then...made me feel good...probably a blessing a did not deserve at the moment, but God was gracious enough to grant it to me!

And then, the one that always gets me, Hebrews 11:17 - "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice." This brought the question to my mind, the one I ask often when I read this, "Would I have enough faith in God to do this with Jackson??" The thought of it gives me the chills...both the thought of sacrificing my son and then thought, that, quite possibly I might not have that kind of faith.

And then, I thought...I WANT TO HAVE THAT KIND OF FAITH!! I DESIRE TO KNOW AND EXPERIENCE THAT KIND OF FAITH!

This was all then followed by this question in my study: "How do you think God deepened the faith of the people mentioned in Hebrews 11?"
The answer???? Through trials.......

So, my conclusion, I still believe that this assignment to Scotland for us is to aid in me gaining that kind of faith that I want to have in God, and therefore, I ask God to bring on those trials. That is hard, but I know, if I desire that faith, that I have to continue to trust him through everything. Doing this study again with the students has been a fabulous experience for me.

Thank you, God, for this revealing study and the opportunity to share it with whoever will "listen!"