Today I Have a Longing for- Outlandish Faith

This post is for you. That loneliness you sometimes feel for being different. 

That stand your family has made. That illness, or hurt you are experiencing. It separates you in someway from being "normal", looking "normal", feeling "normal". 

I don't know your struggles. But I know this.

Faithful trusting and obeying, no matter the cost, brings great joy. 

You wait.

You will see.

"...And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat."

Jericho was defeated, HOW?!?

  

Faith calls us to strange places.
 Beyond the reaches of our comfort zone. Beyond the reaches of our understanding. Faith pulls us away to solid ground, providing us with a firm base on which to stand. No storm can shake this faith!

 Yet at the same time it pulls us away from the world around us. This world does not comprehend the sinking nature of the sand they are standing on. Faith guards us from the "normal" way of being, looking and feeling. 

Faith brings mortification.

Why? because it is NOT natural. The selfishness and pride of our hearts rejects all thought of needing direction. Especially directions WE can't comprehend. It is mortifying, it breaks us.                            

Faith has incredible power.

 Scripture tells us it can move mountains. But faith is not about the one who does the believing, it is about the one who gives the power to believe. 

Faith is not something we can do on our own. We not only need His strength to overcome the predicaments we place ourselves in, but we also need His strength to help us believe that He can overcome those predicaments. 

For true belief is brought about by a realization of the feebleness of our own devices, schemes, and power.

A self-confident and haughty man can never know what it is to trust himself to the guiding of the Lord. Who needs a guide when you are already familiar with everything?

I can only imagine how stupid and silly the Israelites must have felt as they marched around the wall of Jericho screaming. I can picture it. That family from Jericho sitting down to dinner, cackling over the  farcical actions of the Israelites. "Wonder where they learned their army tactics from?" Then BOOM! BANG! BOOM! The walls of Jericho come crashing down own their heads. 

As children of God our obedience to His commands will usually be answered by others with laughter, or disregard. This should not be our concern. God WILL condemn the wicked!

 The person who feels God's pleasure, does not fret or worry about the opinion of others. The men who give their allegiance to King Jesus will be mocked as He was. The ways of God will seem as foolish to men, but they will triumph!

Obedience and faith to God's ways yield victory!

Throughout scripture we see time and time again examples of men called to do outlandish things, trusting in faith that God would control the outcome. 

Noah building the ark. The scorn. What a mockery! 

Rain was something in their day that had never been experienced. It was crazy!

Gideon and his three hundred men. What a scandal! Smashing jars and blowing trumpets. That could never defeat the army of Midian.

Blood placed over the door. Really? The angel of death sounded kind of like a fairy tale. A splotch of blood isn't going to do any good. 

Water from a rock. Since when did rocks bring about springs of fresh water? That silly idea really isn't going to help the situation with thirst.

The ark, the smashing jars and blowing trumpets, the blood, the rock. It wasn't magic. It was faith. 

None of those things would do them any good without a stepping out in blind trust.

It took courage. It took bravery.

Others will sneer but what glorious things come from men and women walking by faith and not by sight!

Okay!
So faith calls us to do outlandish things. How does this apply to me?

You've been called to stand alone, to be "abnormal", and to do crazy things, so that not only you, but the entire world can see the mighty acts of God. 

Every suffering and trial we experience, when taken in faith, will bring about a bountiful harvest. We may not see for ourselves all the fruits of our labors, but they will reap. 

So when trials come into our lives, we must step out in faith and give thanks for each affliction. (And remember murmuring is NOT an act of faith!!!) When we complain we are telling God that we don't like the way He is providing for us and that we are not willing to humble ourselves before Him and trust His perfect plan.

C.S. Lewis said-

"When we complain of our suffering we are not asking God to love us more, we are asking Him to love us less." 

Are we clinging in faith to His promises or are we asking him to love us less? 

Remember, faith is the victory!

Lord, make us men and women of courage.

Supply us with outlandish faith.