Faith

Lately I've been thinking about faith and what does it mean. I know the Bible describes faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It seems to me that trust is a part of what faith is all about. God gives us faith to receive salvation so we all have a measure of faith. Jesus said faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. To me that means I don't need alot of faith to accomplish great things. If you trust and believe that God can do what he says he can do, that is faith.
I have people tell me if I have enough faith and pray for healing, I will be healed. I do pray for healing and have faith that God can heal me. Remember the mustard sized faith and what it can do? So why hasn't healing come? I can't answer that but I do trust and believe God can provide healing. Did you ever stop and think that it takes just as much faith in God in time of suffering as it does when everything is going our way? Maybe even more so. Paul had a thorn in the flesh that he wanted removed but God chose not to relieve him of whatever it was. So he just endured it to the end.
While I believe God can and does heal, there are times he chooses not to. That does not determine whether I have faith in God or not. To me it means God is trying to accomplish something greater in my life.
Remember the disciples out in the middle of a lake and it began to storm? Even though Jesus was in the boat with them, they lacked the faith (trust) in him to keep them safe. They woke him from his sleep. He chastised them for their lack of faith (trust) to keep them safe even though he was right there with them. He didn't tell them to wait till they had more faith in him to calm the storm, but got up and calmed the storm. They knew what Jesus was capable of doing, they had witnessed it all before. Yet they doubted him when they where afraid. He will provide for us even when we seem to lack faith and have our doubts. Jesus is right there with us even when the storms of this life rage all around us. To me, that is what faith is all about.

The Real Me

This was written by a patient with ALS that I met online and thought I would share it with you all. ALS is not what defines me as who I am, but it is my soul.

Catherine has been living with ALS for 14 years. What an inspriration!