VERSE: “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Matthew 8:26
OSWALD: “When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. [Unfortunately] our trust is in God up to a certain point, then we go back to the elementary panic prayers of those who do not know God.” (AUGUST 12th)
MY THOUGHT:
This entry hit me hard today. I’m up against a challenge and once again I find myself giving in to fear. I feel inadequate for the task, so I waffle and waver dancing with my doubt rather than standing against it. Why is it that I can believe God set the moon and stars in place, that He does miracles today and turns impossibilities into possibilities, but still struggle with the thought that He might want to accomplish something difficult in me and through me?
Oh Lord, I want to be one of your “reliable” ones – a woman who isn’t fickle-hearted and fainty, whiney and ungrateful when faced with something challenging – but one who rises to the task with faith in her heart and Your name on her lips.
Oswald reminds us of the stormy day the disciples awakened Jesus to bring attention to the dangerous situation they found themselves in. “O ye of little faith!” was Jesus’ reply.
“What a pang must have shot through the disciples,” Oswald writes. They had missed a chance at faith yet again. “And what a pang will go through us when we suddenly realize that we might have produced downright joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no matter what was ahead.”
Lord, I want to produce joy in Your heart today. And today, like most days, offers an opportunity to do just that. But it comes down to a really important question: Will I choose faith or will I choose fear?
Will I believe what You’ve promised BEFORE I give way to my emotions? BEFORE I fixate on the difficult challenge I’m facing? That’s what the “reliable” ones do. They include You in the equation before they ever come to a conclusion. And because of that they are able to stand confidently, bravely, victoriously. Even in a storm.
Though I may have failed to exercise my faith today, tomorrow will give me another chance to overcome. Because that’s just the way life is. May I answer it with the confident faith of a woman who knows You intimately rather than the panicked prayers of the uninitiated.