Walking by Faith

This summer/fall I have been searching and having many coversations in the process of better understanding what Christian faith is.

I wrote a blog about 1 1/2 months ago on faith but I never really felt comfortable with my questions and answers so I never published it. This was my premise....

"I have asked a lot of questions about faith....What does it mean to walk by faith? How does our country and our circumstance affect our understanding of faith? How does faith differ in the context of needs (aka spiritual vs physical)? What about pain and death? Am I able to read the faith stories of the Bible as human experiences beyond the mystical fairy tales that I have always understood them to be, and in turn come to a deeper understanding of what it means to have faith? Can you have faith with out relationship? Certainly there is no way to quantify faith, why have I found myself doing such while trying to get a better understanding? "

After lots of reflection time I, ironically, decided that I over complicated understanding faith by trying to pick it apart and analyze it.

The main reason for this change of heart is a phone call I receive from a good friend of mine this Monday.

He recently found out that his first born 3 1/2 month old daughter has a syndrome that gives her a life expectancy of under two years. Heartbreaking.

When I talked to him on the phone he said that as hard as the news was to take, and as much as the pain weighed on him, God has given him and his wife peace. Peace that God is in control of all parts of life and death...that we live in God grace....and that "His will be done" is their cry.

He also told me not to feel sad and wonder what it would be like if it was my child....but instead live in grace and with Joy in the moments that God gives us... and again that God, who loves us, is in control and he will never give us anything that we cannot handle.

The calm in his voice was Godly. I still am awed when I think about it.

I am struck by the magnitude of trusting in God by believing his promises. Hearing my friend's story of the faith God has given him is moving to me. I pray that God would give me faith that strong...through good and bad times...all of the above times...always believing and trusting God as the creator and sustainer of my life and that Jesus Christ is the way to salvation.