THE MINISTRY OF LINDA L. JOHNSON

Blog #5
 EMAIL: fmland32@gmail.com   

“Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”, Hebrews 11:1 .  “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7….These are two of the most popular scriptures on faith in the bible.  In my opinion, having faith is one of the most difficult aspects walking with God.  I pray and ask God for things. I start out with great faith, but then when I don’t see it, sometimes I get discouraged, anxious, or nervous that it will not come to pass.  Other times I may doubt God ever promised me what I was believing for to begin with.  It’s at these times of confusion and uncertainty, I know to turn to the Lord, be still and allow Him to minister to my Spirit.  We all know God is not the author of confusion and Satan would like nothing more than to rob us of what God has promised us. It’s at these times our faith must increase, opposed to decrease.

A few weeks back I was in what I consider to be an “old school” gas station car wash.  I say this because there was an attended inside the car wash and there were brushes cleaning your car opposed to the more modernized water pressure type of cleaning.  There were multiple cars in line for a wash that day, so I sat patiently awaiting my turn.  Before the wash started, I could see the very expensive limousine truck not too far in front of me going through the wash.  The attendant took my number to verify I had paid, ensured my wheels were aligned to the washer and told me to put my car in neutral to start the first step.  While in neutral, my car was moving along the path and then immediately, I could not see anything.  I wasn’t sure if the truck was still in front of me or those were brushes.  Everything was blurry!  Was the attendant still watching or had he moved to the car behind me!  “God, please do not let me crash into that expensive truck I thought to myself!  Is this over yet?  Should I turn on the windshield wipers? When will this be over?!”

Although I was tempted to stop the process multiple times, I allowed my car to continue moving through each step. I managed to calm my nerves and trust the process.  I trusted that the attendant knew what he was talking about and patiently waited for the car to rinse and dry.  By the time the wash had ended, all was well, I had a clean car and did not slam into the limo truck that was in front of me. 

Many of us have gone through car washes multiple times in our lives, but God used this experience to show me how many of us are regarding believing him and taking him at his word.  We get fearful in the middle and want to Stop The Process because we don’t understand what is going on.  Others wonder why exactly God is taking so long. Remember God says in his word, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8).  He is a God who is ordering our steps.  We won’t receive all the answers, understand, or see it until the process is completed.  Trust that God knows better than you do.

I don’t know what God has promised you or what obstacles you are facing but remember as I said in my previous blog, “Press on!”.  Faith is placing hope in God for something we cannot see.  Just because you cannot see it now or it didn’t happen when you thought it should doesn’t mean God isn’t going to do it for you.  Often, He’s testing you to see how much you really want it.  He wants to develop your faith to continue to ask for greater things in the future, because if you cannot believe God can bless you to pay your rent for, how can you believe him to be pay for your home mortgage?

Allow God to stretch your faith, knowing you will not be able to see it.  For the word says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9) I’m not sure who God is speaking to but keep the faith! Trust that God will come through FOR YOU!
God Bless, Felicia