Face the Future with Faith

 

‘They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”’ Mark 2:3-

Here we see how crucial our faith is. Four men carried a paralytic to Jesus. He saw the faith of the men and forgave the sick man’s sins and healed him of his paralysis. 

There are many people around us “paralyzed” by sin, fear, shame, greed, and even by their own past. We can bring them to Jesus but it is important that we have faith and not hopelessness. Even in the midst of darkness, we should resolve to depend on God and have faith that He has all the answers. 

I was listening to speaker and author Lysa Terkeust’s story about her two adopted boys. Jackson and Mark were living in an orphanage in Liberia, a West African country ravaged by 14 years of civil war. They ate once a day, usually just a bowl of rice, and a little chicken on a good day. They trudged a long way to school and had to sit on a rock wall during lunch so they wouldn’t bother the others who had lunch. Every day they had Bible study, but one day the teacher said, “We won’t have Bible study today. I’ll call one of you, and you tell us what you want to thank God for.” Jackson was called and his mind was blank. He had no idea what to be grateful for so he sang a praise song. The next day, another boy was called. He did the same thing, and Jackson joined him. The next day, another boy was called, and he too sang a praise song, and Jackson and the 2nd boy joined him. On the twelfth day, 12 boys were singing a praise song when the American consul came for a visit. He promised to bring the “choir” to America to raise funds for the orphanage.  

When the boys sang in Lysa’s church, God spoke in her heart to adopt two boys. Lysa fought against that for a while, but she eventually did. Since then, 40 children from that orphanage were adopted. That was in 2003. 

Let us face the future in faith and confidence and praise God no matter what the present looks like. God is on His throne and He has a wonderful plan for our life. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11