What Can Faith Do?

I find myself riveted to the news as the images and stories pour out of Japan. A country so like our own, yet people are dying in shelters from lack of food and clean water. Unimaginable loss felt by so many and it is not even over. People are now being evacuated from their homes because of the risk of radiation.

In the midst of it all I hear this amazing story. There was a family who when the Tsunami hit had their 4 month old baby with them. The raging water tore her from her father's arms. They were devastated at the loss for surely a baby could not survive. Babies do not swim, and even if a baby were to survive they might die of hunger, dehydration, or any number of things before anyone could rescue them. To me it is unimaginable the grief this family must have felt. However for this one family the story didn't end there. Rescue workers heard a strange sound and when they followed the noise were amazed to find a beautiful 4 month old baby girl. A beautiful baby alive after an earthquake and a tsunami. There are no words to describe how awe inspiring a miracle is. However I can show you a picture. Just look at the smile on this man's face as he rests his eyes on the beautiful miracle of that baby.

We need only to turn on the news to hear horrible stories. Crimes committed, wars raging on, people who are persecuted, and so much more going on all around us. Sometimes I think we become indifferent. We become a little bit complacent. For those of you who don't know what I mean complacent is defined by dictionary.com as: pleased, especially with oneself or one's merits, advantages, situation, etc., often without awareness of some potential danger or defect. You need only to look around you to see what I mean. The world is full of haves and have nots. The world is full of sinners. If I sit back and watch the news I can say, "Well I must not be that bad I never robbed a bank. My life isn't that horrible look at what happened in Japan." You might even say, "What has this world come to? What kind of world do we live in?"

However just when you think that all hope is lost. Just when you think that there is no way that this world can be saved. Something amazing happens. Like little Michelle who lay under the rubble in a building in Haiti for five days. In searing heat without water and food. Imagine being all alone in the dark for five days. These are two stories of hope in times of tragedy, but what about amazing things that happen on a normal day. Like the man who caught the baby falling 7 stories from an apartment in Paris. Have you ever tried to catch a fly ball at a baseball game? If you think that is hard picture trying to catch a flailing crying baby as they plummet toward the cement. AMAZING...........

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Sometimes I am asked how I can believe in God when I cannot see him? There is so much evidence against him people say. I have heard arguments on every scientific notion out there. Despite the arguments or maybe because of the arguments I have FAITH. I cannot see electricity, but I still get a bill every month for using it. I cannot see the tiny cells within my body, yet I believe they exist. I have not laid eyes on the Himalayan Peaks, the Eiffel tower, the pyramids, or the Great wall of China. That doesn't mean I don't believe in it's existence. Unexplained things happen. People live against all odds. Just because you are not there to see it does not change the fact that it is happening. 2Corinthians 5: 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

People who believe in things that seem impossible are called crazy. Galileo was imprisoned for life for publicly proclaiming that the Earth was round. Too bad he died before everyone realized the truth. Louis Pasteur was drummed out of his medical college for proposing that life forms too small for the human eye to see were the cause of disease. Yet this man went on to create a vaccination for rabies. Imagine if Louis Pasteur had listened when people called him crazy. Einstein was thrown out of grade school as hopelessly un-teachable. All of these people saw something that was right there in front of them. They saw it and they understood that this knowledge would shake the core of what the world believed. Then they set out to tell everyone they met.

This Sunday I heard an amazing message called Sun Stand Still. Pastor Steven Furtick preached this earth shattering eye opening message on asking God to do the impossible. Joshua 10: 12-13 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”¹³ So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies.Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. Can you even imagine praying that prayer? The kind of faith it takes to ask the sun to stand still? Sure I believe in things I cannot see, but would I have the audacity to say this to God? Would you?

Complacency rules our world. It is like a blindfold covering the eyes of the people. We walk around feeling good about ourselves, and our lives. We have the right car, clothes, house, life, children, job, etc. We walk around feeling horrible about the world around us. Look at this world what a mess it is. This kind of living is a symptom of the mess, and it will get you no where. That's right if you are living a life of complacency you are going nowhere! You can change the world just like Galileo, Pasteur, and Einstein. You have the power. God gave you the power. Acts 2: 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. Amazing and simple, just call on the name of the Lord and you shall be saved! From my minimal knowledge of the bible I can count 14 variations of this verse found in both the new and old testament. Now as a mom I know that children don't always listen, but when something is important I am willing to repeat it until they get the message. So if God was willing to repeat it 14 times you probably should sit up and listen. Faith is about daring to do the impossible. Faith is about the sun standing still.

When we take off our blindfolds we see the world in a new light. Just as Louis Pasteur saw micro-organisms we too can see the unseen. We pick out the hand of God in the everyday. God is at work in your life even when you refuse to see it. Imagine what amazing things he can do in you if you just let him. Proverbs 2: 5-8 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. ⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; ⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; ⁸ He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.

Kutless sings a beautiful song about the power of faith:
I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

It doesn't matter what you've heard
Impossible is not a word
It's just a reason
For someone not to try

Everybody's scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It'll be alright