Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Day 406 Against All Odds

I recently read the most powerful definition of the word Faith.  Faith is trust against all odds.   Wow!  That just says everything right there.  Trust in God, against all odds.  No matter what is going on around you, no matter what the medical reports are saying, just trust against all odds.

When I read this, my mind went almost immediately to the Israelites  leaving Egypt.  Just try to imagine what that must have been like.  First of all, God's presence had hardly been known for over four hundred years.  They had been in slavery for so long that none of them had lived anywhere other than Egypt.  That was home.  Probably most of them worshiped the same gods the Egyptians worshiped.  Those were convenient gods to worship because all one had to do was worship and there was nothing required in return.

Then all of a sudden Moses shows up.   What a charismatic person he must have been, even with his stutter.  He tells them he's going to take them away from Egypt to a land of milk and honey.  Then God starts to show up with plague after plague on the Egyptians.  Probably most of us would have run for cover, but the people of Israel followed Moses.  Yes, there was mumbling and grumbling.  Probably lots of it.  But they put their faith in Moses and in God.  And despite all odds, being stuck between an angry army of the Pharoah and the Red Sea, they could have simply given up and gone back.  But there had to be a huge amount of faith - of trust against all odds - for them to take that first step into the dry bed of the Red Sea.  Even Moses had doubts at times but still he trusted against all odds and obeyed.

Jesse Turner on Sunday told the story of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  After beating cancer of the kidney and bone cancer where part of his arm and shoulder were removed, he received the word that there was a spot on his pancreas, which is usually fatal.  The doctors told him to get his affairs in order and return to the hospital for a particularly grueling surgery.  On his way home that day, God spoke to him in the wonderful way that God does.  For some reason, God reminded Jesse of Numbers 13 and 14.   It was the story of Joshua and Caleb who went with spies to see what the Israelites would be up against in getting to Canaan.  The spies came back with a report of huge people and fortifications that couldn't be breached.  Joshua and Caleb said that victory was theirs.  Jesse realized what God was telling him.  He trusted God against all odds and chose not to have the surgery.   Three years later the spot on his pancreas has not changed and he is continuing to do God's will and spread His message everywhere he goes.

There is an old gospel hymn that goes:

Trust and obey,
For there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus
than to trust and obey.
 
Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
We thank You today for the trust You have put in us to show us the wonder and glory of Your love.  We thank You for showing us who You are and what You are, our Creator, our Saviour, our Love.
We ask Your help in growing stronger in our faith each day.  Help us to be able to see beyond the odds that are surrounding us to the trust that we can have in You.  We know You are there for us through everything the world might throw at us.  We know You are there for us through cancer regardless of the odds the medical reports are giving.
You, Father, are our everything and we are grateful.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
Amen


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