Last week I was asked to speak at SWAT - a preteen group at our church on Friday nights for 5th-7th graders. My friend Jen is the overseer, and has a guest speaker come the last Friday of each month. This year, she asked me to speak about "Faith"; pretty open topic. I teach Middle School, and am comfortable talking to kids in this age group. I thought I would post my talk here.
When you hear the word "Faith", what do you think of? Do any words or pictures come to mind? When Jen asked me to come and talk about faith, I wasn't sure exactly what I should say... I think I have a pretty strong faith - I know Jesus, I am sure He loves me, I have confidence He will never leave me - and I want to love and obey Him every day, for my whole life. And as I prayed about tonight, I prayed for each of you, that God would give me the right words, the words He wants you to hear.
I've been thinking about some of the old guys in the Bible lately, and what I can learn about God and their faith. Remember Abraham? He was a pretty wealthy man. I imagine that he had a comfortable life. But God spoke to him, and told him to pack up and move. It wasn't easy, no moving vans back then, but Abraham obeyed. God told him he and his wife, Sarah, would have as many children and grandchildren (and so on) as there are stars in the sky. Wow! and Abraham had faith and trusted God, even when this promise wasn't fulfilled until Abraham was 100 years old.
Many, many years later, Abraham's grandson, Jacob, was on the run, afraid his twin brother was out to kill him. Jacob, exhausted, fell asleep against a rock and had an incredible dream of angels going up and down from heaven! And then he heard God speak! God said: "I am with you and will take care of you in all places wherever you go." (Genesis 28:15)
I remember someone giving me that scripture verse when I was 12 years old, and I hung on to it, because I believed that God meant those words for me too - that everywhere I go, He is right there with me. Isn't that so reassuring?
Now I want to tell you about something that happened to me a few years ago. I met a woman who annoyed me a little bit, but I could be nice to her. Do you know anyone like that? Someone you can be kind to, but you may not necessarily want to be friends with? But one day I really felt God asking me to minister to her, to be friends with her, and to do that joyfully. I started to cry (what a baby!), and I had a mini temper tantrum with God. But something I've learned about faith is: I really love to do what God asks me to do, I really love to obey Him. So when Jesus asked me to do something I didn't really want to do, or feel comfortable doing, I know I had 2 choices: I could choose to obey and know that God would be with all the way, and give me the right words, and fill me with love and kindness for this person, and that that would allow me to witness and enjoy God's blessings; or I could disobey God and miss out on His plans. Miss out on the plans of the King of Kings? No way - I chose to obey!
I said, "Lord, I will do what You ask, but please help me. Show me how to be her friend, how to help her, when, with who, and how often." And do you know what Jesus did? He gave the answers to each of those questions within 2 weeks! I had people asking if they could help me minister to her!
And best of all, Jesus helped me see this person the way God sees her: as His precious, beloved child. I get goosebumps when I think about how having faith, and choosing to obey Jesus, brings me closer to Jesus, allows me to see first-hand His good works in my life and in the lives of people around me. When I don't step out in faith, when I don't choose to obey God because I'm afraid of what might happen, I'm afraid of the wrong thing. I should be more afraid about what I will miss out on - God's blessings and miracles - if I decide not to live in faith and obey God.
My prayer for you, who is reading this, is that you would have a desire to know Jesus, to trust Him and have faith that His plans for you are for good. I pray that you would know that God "is with you, and will take care of you in all places, wherever you go." Genesis 28:15
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