Tag Archives: faith

May 11
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“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’   He replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.'”  (Luke 17: 5-6, NIV)

The disciple of Jesus must resist the temptation to think — as the world is inclined to think — that “more is always better”; or that “big is best.”

One definition of economics is “the allocation of resources.”  In the economy of God, a little boy’s lunch — freely offered — feeds multitudes; and up-armored giants are slain with a sling and a stone.

Today, offer to God’s service whatever it is you already possess.  Our heavenly Father cares not as much for our ability as He does our availability!  – Luther

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April 22
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“So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.  She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him.’”  (1Samuel 1:20, NIV)
It is helpful for the disciple of Jesus to remember that between a vision and its fulfillment; between a promise and the delivery of what was promised is “the course of time.”  It is here — like nowhere else — that we are challenged because we often become tired of waiting; or we become frustrated with the pace of fulfillment or of delivery; or we allow something else less worthy to divert our attention, or to curb our enthusiasm.
Hannah’s story began much earlier than what we read in today’s verse: She had been childless for a very long time, and had been praying for a very long time for a son.  God had heard Hannah’s prayer and, through Eli the priest, had promised to give her a son.  It wasn’t an instantaneous realization of God’s promise.  The promise was realized “in the course of time” through something as common as conception, pregnancy, and childbirth.
Be encouraged by the fact that God always desires to work for us, in us, and through us.  Do not lose heart when the hours creep or when the days seem never to end.  – Luther
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April 20
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“They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth.  After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.”  (Ruth 1:4-5, NIV)

It is hard to imagine a more dire situation than the one described in today’s scripture: Death, young widowhood, exile to a foreign land, and bleak economic prospects.  This story of Naomi and her two daughters-in-law doesn’t end there, but it does begin in pain and uncertainty.

(There is more to this story, of course; and I encourage you to read the four short chapters that comprise the book of Ruth — which takes less time to read than many articles in the daily newspaper — for the rest of the story.)

Despite the dark outlook, Naomi, Ruth, Orpah, and others, nevertheless, persist in the practice of humility, hospitality, and honesty.  Although they were not assured of a short-term (tactical) positive outcome — none of us ever are — they are supremely confident in the end-term (strategic) outcome with God.

We show our confidence (another word for “faith”) in our heavenly Father — as did Naomi and the others — by persisting in humility, hospitality, and honesty, particularly in hard times.  – Luther

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