A Little Something About Faith
Romans. Week One.
Blessings and growing pains come in all shapes, forms and convictions. For the month of March, I committed to read the first eight chapters of Romans with a group of women. I only know two of them, and we all live in different parts of the country. We are to read, reflect, absorb the Word and share online.
I thought: “Yes! Yes! I need this. With our move, I feel like I’ve traveled to a distant land, left wandering around lost and confused. This will be good for my soul!” But good intentions is my secret middle name. The first day of March rolled in with sunshine and First Friday adventures at the Bottoms, and my Bible stayed buried under books and papers on the chest next to my bed. Second day, family adventures to Zona Rosa and a late night of Beyond Balderdash, filled with laughter and ice cream. No reading. No reflecting. No anything.
By day four, as I waded my way through a sea of laundry, I admitted I was a total slacker. Instead of diving into the rich Word of God, I had avoided, hidden, run from goodness, beauty and wisdom. Really, Susan. What is the deal? Am I lazy, afraid to listen to God, what?
Not long ago, in the midst of attempting to help my eldest engage with his responsibilities/chores, he literally screamed at me--”Mom, you never listen to me!” Ugh. Pause. Deep breath. For both of us. Though I could argue the “never” absolute, he’s right, at least for that moment. I wasn’t listening; I had my agenda, gave directives and expected results. One-sided, of course, and rather controlling. Ahh, the thorn in my flesh.
Listening isn’t easy, especially when the words penetrate the soul. A couple of days ago, I did actually unearth my Bible and begin to read Romans. I figured it was time to at least go through the motions, as I did commit to these women. Sadly, my reasoning wasn’t because I wanted to hear God, it was more I felt guilty because I hadn’t read anything yet. Guilt gets me every time. But thankfully, God isn’t in the shame business. He doesn’t shake his head at us and give us the silent treatment.
I had to catch up, so here was my list to read:
1: A Ruined Righteousness (Rom 1:1)
2: The Gospel of God (Rom 1:1)
3: A Hidden Glory (Rom 1:3-4)
4: Loved by God Rom (1:6-7)
5: The Righteousness of God (Rom 1:16-17)
6: According to His Works (Rom 2:6-11)
7: The Praise of God Rom (2:28-29)
As expected, there was no loud booming voice sharing great wisdom from the heavens. That has never been my experience with God. He’s often more subtle than that.
“The gospel he promised....for in the gospel the righteousness of God revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last...the righteous will live by faith.”
Gospel. Faith. Live. All in the same verse, and in a nice, neat bottom-line sort of way. Oh, if it could only be that easy. The Gospel is God’s promise and His show. Faith is up to us. It means trust, abandonment, “throwing caution to the wind.” And it is essential to the Christian faith, yet isn’t something tangible or confirming, much like I’ve felt the last six months as I ask, “God, why are we here in a place I don’t know?”
To live by faith is often excruciating, therefore ever too easy to ignore. Trusting in the Unseen seems counterintuitive in our visual, interconnected world saturated with images, videos, podcasts, movies, shows, games. Wouldn’t it just be easier to trust in the comforts of this life, the logic of our rather predictable culture, or even the agendas we so quickly create?
These verses in Romans led me to Hebrews 11 to examine “how (do) the righteous live by faith.” Ancient stories of ancient people and ancient events yet timeless. If you haven’t read this chapter in a while, do so. It is humbling. Verse 38 mentions wandering in a desert. And then....”these were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
The Big Picture? The Gospel. My choice? Faith. The End Result? Life.
Blessings and growing pains come in all shapes, forms and convictions. For the month of March, I committed to read the first eight chapters of Romans with a group of women. I only know two of them, and we all live in different parts of the country. We are to read, reflect, absorb the Word and share online.
I thought: “Yes! Yes! I need this. With our move, I feel like I’ve traveled to a distant land, left wandering around lost and confused. This will be good for my soul!” But good intentions is my secret middle name. The first day of March rolled in with sunshine and First Friday adventures at the Bottoms, and my Bible stayed buried under books and papers on the chest next to my bed. Second day, family adventures to Zona Rosa and a late night of Beyond Balderdash, filled with laughter and ice cream. No reading. No reflecting. No anything.
By day four, as I waded my way through a sea of laundry, I admitted I was a total slacker. Instead of diving into the rich Word of God, I had avoided, hidden, run from goodness, beauty and wisdom. Really, Susan. What is the deal? Am I lazy, afraid to listen to God, what?
Not long ago, in the midst of attempting to help my eldest engage with his responsibilities/chores, he literally screamed at me--”Mom, you never listen to me!” Ugh. Pause. Deep breath. For both of us. Though I could argue the “never” absolute, he’s right, at least for that moment. I wasn’t listening; I had my agenda, gave directives and expected results. One-sided, of course, and rather controlling. Ahh, the thorn in my flesh.
Listening isn’t easy, especially when the words penetrate the soul. A couple of days ago, I did actually unearth my Bible and begin to read Romans. I figured it was time to at least go through the motions, as I did commit to these women. Sadly, my reasoning wasn’t because I wanted to hear God, it was more I felt guilty because I hadn’t read anything yet. Guilt gets me every time. But thankfully, God isn’t in the shame business. He doesn’t shake his head at us and give us the silent treatment.
I had to catch up, so here was my list to read:
1: A Ruined Righteousness (Rom 1:1)
2: The Gospel of God (Rom 1:1)
3: A Hidden Glory (Rom 1:3-4)
4: Loved by God Rom (1:6-7)
5: The Righteousness of God (Rom 1:16-17)
6: According to His Works (Rom 2:6-11)
7: The Praise of God Rom (2:28-29)
As expected, there was no loud booming voice sharing great wisdom from the heavens. That has never been my experience with God. He’s often more subtle than that.
“The gospel he promised....for in the gospel the righteousness of God revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last...the righteous will live by faith.”
Gospel. Faith. Live. All in the same verse, and in a nice, neat bottom-line sort of way. Oh, if it could only be that easy. The Gospel is God’s promise and His show. Faith is up to us. It means trust, abandonment, “throwing caution to the wind.” And it is essential to the Christian faith, yet isn’t something tangible or confirming, much like I’ve felt the last six months as I ask, “God, why are we here in a place I don’t know?”
To live by faith is often excruciating, therefore ever too easy to ignore. Trusting in the Unseen seems counterintuitive in our visual, interconnected world saturated with images, videos, podcasts, movies, shows, games. Wouldn’t it just be easier to trust in the comforts of this life, the logic of our rather predictable culture, or even the agendas we so quickly create?
These verses in Romans led me to Hebrews 11 to examine “how (do) the righteous live by faith.” Ancient stories of ancient people and ancient events yet timeless. If you haven’t read this chapter in a while, do so. It is humbling. Verse 38 mentions wandering in a desert. And then....”these were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
The Big Picture? The Gospel. My choice? Faith. The End Result? Life.
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