The Faith Album -- part 4
Mothers of Nations, I pray you are enjoying this journey through the pages of our Faith Album! This is our fourth entry regarding several types of faith. If you have not yet done so, I encourage you to read the past three weeks of blog entries to be reminded about all the types of faith that are discussed in God’s Word.
SHIPWRECKED FAITH
This next page in our album is all about “shipwrecked faith.” If you have ever been on a boat during a turbulent storm, you have some idea of what it would be like to have your ship battered against the sea. The sea is a powerful force that no man can stand against on his own.
Once we went on a cruise in the Caribbean and ended up in a storm. My head was so dizzy I could not walk, sleep, eat, or do anything. The ship rolled and swayed even after they put the levelers out. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for Paul on a boat that had to be abandoned to get to shore!
Sometimes the pressures of living can feel like we are at sea, tossing and rolling in the waves of a storm. The world and all its influence is like the sea. The cares of the world batter against us, send waves of distraction, and the forces of life rise and lower, trying to rob or steal our faith.
Paul wrote specific instructions to Timothy on what to do, what to watch out for, and what to remain faithful to so that his faith would not be shipwrecked. Paul was concerned for Timothy because he had seen his friends fail. They lost their way, their vision, and their goals. They thought they could take matters into their own hands, but instead they got shipwrecked.
Therefore, in I Timothy 1: 18-20 (NKJV) Paul writes with a father’s heart saying, “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of who are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.”
Certainly Mothers of Nations, none of us want to be shipwrecked in our faith!
WAVERING FAITH
The book of James reveals another faith we can find in our album. It is called “wavering faith.” Wavering faith is the kind of faith that vacillates between choices. It fluctuates between opinions.
James 1: 5-8 (NKJV) says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
Wavering faith displeases God and gets us nowhere. We cannot have faith one day and then embrace fear the next. Rather, we must receive the Word and do the Word. The Word without action is meaningless and produces nothing. It especially does not produce strong faith!
Year after year I have taken people on short term mission trips. Each time we prepare to go, I tell the participants to remember how they feel about being a part of the outreach. I want them to clearly establish that they know they are to participate. This is because once we get into the fundraising, preparation classes, and other activities, many times friends and relatives of the participant will start telling them they are crazy for committing to an overseas mission trip! I tell those who sign up to hang on to the assurance they initially had about going, or they will definitely want to waver at a later date!
Many years ago, we had booked an outreach trip for eight women to go to Nairobi, Kenya. Our money was raised, and our bags were almost packed when terrorists bombed the United States Embassy in Nairobi. Phone calls started coming into my office telling me not to go. People I normally never hear from called to tell me not to leave, as they felt it was too dangerous.
One day after another I received negative input, even from some members of our outreach team. Yet this is where we learn to not waver or become double minded. Did the Lord tell us to go? Yes! Did God bring in all the finances for every team member to participate? Yes! Is God double minded? No! Did God know this bombing would occur? Yes!
After weighing all the facts and circumstances, discussing the responsibilities to all the people involved, I came to one conclusion. God does not waver, and we should not either. I gave every team member a choice to participate or not. Each decided to proceed forward and go to Kenya. It turned out to be one of the most miraculous
trips we have ever taken! The people of Kenya were comforted and extremely encouraged in their faith because we chose to come, regardless of the circumstances.
On that same trip we were scheduled to also travel to Kampala, Uganda. The threat of a bomb scare was also lingering in that city as well. But we traveled to Kampala, full of faith, not wavering, and determined to stand fast against the enemy. Within a day the culprits were found, the bombs were discovered, and the threat was over.
What was especially fun was that all the male ministers from the United States who were going to team with us on the ministry schedule there in Kampala decided NOT to attend, due to the fear of the possible bomb threats. But those eight unknown Mothers of Nations who had just ministered in Nairobi after the embassy bombing went to Kampala and ministered there as well for the glory of God! We walked with courage and unwavering faith, bold in the promises and provision of our Lord! We were the talk of the Christian community in Kampala that week and a true encouragement to the Body of Christ in that city.
As we have been paging through our faith album so far, we have discovered several types of faith. Great faith, little faith, weak faith, strong faith, full of faith, unfeigned faith, shipwrecked faith, and wavering faith have all been depicted for us.
You may have found your faith type on one of the pages we have discussed. Sometimes, we can be living in and walking out several types of faith at the same time. Hopefully as a Mother of Nations you are continually working toward the types of faith that turn the world upside down!
Dr. Sharon Predovich
