Unconditional Faith

Every day when I wake up, I listen to “The Prayer of the Day”. This is a service provided by the Bible App I use for spending time in the Word. I have found it a wonderful way to connect with God and start my day with Him in my heart. A Bible passage shows up on my phone and is then presented by a number of different people — pastors, authors, teachers, faithful Christians who want to share their beliefs. They

Ellen Taylor

interpret the verse on a short video and help make the Word even more meaningful.

​So, this morning I was happy to see that one of my favorite verses was presented by an amazing man that I am sure most of you also know and respect. Matt Lucado gave me some things to think about.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

The condensed version of what Max shared is that there is an old belief that God helps those who help themselves. A lot of us believe this. We think that we can fix ourselves. We will make up for our mistakes with contributions, our guilt by volunteering our time, and we will pay for our failures with hard work. We will find salvation the old-fashioned way by earning it. But God says that it is your role to trust in Him to do what we can’t accomplish. We must trust Him to fix the things we can't.

So how can we do that? How can we find that type of faith? Actually, we are all doing this on another level. A practical example is that currently we all depend upon, and have faith in, things we cannot see. We have faith that when we flip the light switch, the light will come on. We depend on the strength of a chair to support our weight. You place your trust in things you cannot see, to do the work you cannot accomplish. God invites you to do the same with Him. Trust God more.

I really liked this concept of trusting things you do not see and extending this belief to my relationship with God. This is a difficult time for me as my sister was just diagnosed with metastatic cancer and unfortunately the prognosis is poor. My brother and sister and I are very close, especially since the death of our parents. We turn to each other for comfort. But dealing with certain death has been so painful despite our relationships. It is times like this when it is so important to turn to God. He is always there. Death on the cross did not conquer Jesus. It was not the end of the story. The author and protector of your faith, He endured death for you and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. He is your comforter and He wants to give you peace. So, whatever you are going through, you can place in His hands. He wants to strengthen your faith and give you hope. As we enter the Easter season, fix your eyes on Christ knowing that He sees a future for you that is filled with so much joy. Trust God more.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5: 1-2)

In His Name, Ellen