The Simplicity of Faith

A couple Sunday's ago in service, the pastor said something interesting:
"We can come to church and proclaim the name of Christ, we can praise him and give thanks for all the blessings He's given us and the grace He's poured out on us; but, unless that grace is shown through our [day-to-day life] what's the point?" (I definitely paraphrased.)

But that really got me thinking. In our world today we are so confused. We have a million different messages thrown at us everyday. And I'm not just talking about through the media, although it is a source, but even within the church we can have conflicting messages. Sometimes it can seem nearly impossible to be "in the world, but not of it".

This past  year I've found myself struggling with this very concept. Whether it's in friendships, relationships, or just biblical concepts. However, God is faithful through the affliction and "disciplines those He loves" (Proverbs 3:12).

One encouraging verse I always go back is Isaiah 48:10

"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."

As God tested me and refined me through this furnace of affliction, I inherited a couple life lessonsthat I was in great need of learning: Contentment & Praise.

In this furnace I learned:

"He has made everything appropriate in its time. 

He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from beginning even to the end."

Ecclesiastes 3:11

and

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praise to Your name, O Most High;

To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night...

For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done,

I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands."

Psalm 92:1,2,4

These past few months, God has taught me to be content where He has placed me, but also I was convicted that I do not give enough thanks, nor praise to the Lord for all He is, and all He has done in my life. I find myself getting too caught up in the do's and dont's of the Bible, and forget to simply 

"Delight [myself] in the Lord, and He will give [me] the desires of [my] heart." Psalm 37:4

There is a difference between saying something, and living it out. This doesn't just take affect in the things we "do", but it also affect in the way we worship the Lord. 

Are you going through a furnace of affliction where God is trying to show you something (no matter how simple). 

Let's, together, grow through these trials and learn to praise the Lord, and not think too deeply about the simplicity of our faith.

Jenna's Journal