Contentment Lesson #9

Chapter 9 - Faith: The Foundation
Calm My Anxious Heart - By Linda Dillow

Linda backs up a bit and recaps what we have talked about so far - and I felt it was worth repeating! The first chapter talked about how Contentment is something we need and can obtain, a peace that is not tied to the things happening around us. Chapters 2-5 talked about areas that we need to be content in: our circumstances, ourselves, our roles, and our relationships. Then Chapters 6-8 talked about barriers to contentment: greed, a faulty focus, and anxiety. Next we are talking about bridging the gap "to a new land where contentment flourishes."

The foundation/Bridge: FAITH.

"Faith raises us above our circumstances. Faith enables us to be content even when life doesn't make sense. Faith is the bulwark that keeps us strong even when we're assailed by agonizing thoughts about what might happen or by what has happened. Faith is a vital component in our relationship with God and in our ability to be content."

Linda then explains what her and her Bible study group came up with for a definition of faith:

• Faith is believing God is true to His Word when my feelings are screaming out something different.
• Faith is certain belief in what I know to be true but cannot, at that moment, feel or touch.
• Faith is completing my small part of the picture/puzzle without being able to see the finished product.

And of course we have Hebrews 11:1 which says (NASB version): "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." But as Linda points out - faith is kind of hard to define because it is such a big and difficult concept. She breaks down the Hebrews 11:1 definition a little bit. She starts with the word "assurance" and what that means. Literally, it means "title deed." She used the example of owning her home - but she says it basically is referring to owning. We OWN our faith - but we have to do more than own it intellectually - we have to own it in our hearts. She challenges that in order to really own faith, we have to throw ourselves to it - heart, mind, and soul.

She writes: "It's one thing to believe God can do something. It's quite another to put yourself in a position of reliant trust. This is the distinction between intellectual belief and wholehearted faith...We tend to make trust a gray area, but with God the issue is often black and white. We either trust Him or we don't. We're either for Him or we're against Him." She also added two more statements that help us get to that reckless abandon to God:

• Faith is rooted in God's character.
• Faith is based on God's Word, not on our feelings.

As many of us have probably already experienced - so many people think that it doesn't matter what you have faith in, as long as you believe...and that is scary. Because the KEY to faith is what you believe in!! We must have an all-pervading trust in the character of God. How else can we move forward, and have faith?? It truly is the foundation.

Her next section talks about how God is SOVEREIGN...she believes that "there are no accidents, no mistakes, no miscalculations. All is under His sovereign control, and nothing is permitted but what He has decreed. And what He has decreed is intended for our good and for His glory. His absolute sovereignty means that I can trust Him with my tiniest doubt or with my most heart-wrenching fear."

Linda talks next about how God is WISE. "He knows everything about you and has the skill necessary to conceptualize the best possible plan not only for the entire world but also for your life."

God is LOVE. "We affirm that God is love, but that love isn't true for us until we personalize it in our walk with Him. God gave His life for us as proof of His love for us...Faith in Him is so much easier when you have the confident assurance that He loves you!" When we doubt, we must overcome our feelings and root ourselves in His Word and what He promises.

Linda talks next about having faith in God's Word - because although everything around us may change, God and His Word will not. She says that we must not let our feelings direct us, and although they are strong and over powering at times, we must remember:

• God's Word is truer than anything I feel.
• God's Word is truer than anything I experience.
• God's Word is truer than any circumstance I will ever face.

We have to CHOOSE faith, no matter what we see or how we feel. She talks about Noah, and how he built the ark when there hadn't even been RAIN before, let alone a flood. He had no idea what God was doing, but he still obeyed. He trusted that God knew better than he did. It all depends on what you are focusing on - are you focusing on God, or on your problems? Are you focusing your thoughts on God's Word or on the circumstances facing you? It is hard, because many time, like Noah, we have no idea what is ahead, we can't see, and have to take one step at a time, even when it is dark, and trust God.

Isaiah 50:10 says: "Who walks in the darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God."

I hate the dark - so I can relate. It is scary...it is easy to get anxious or panic...it is easy to let the darkness consume you...but God is with us - every step of the way. We MUST focus on Him instead of the darkness - instead of the unknown. And that is what God wants - to trust Him in the unknown - in that darkness - not knowing what He is doing. Noah did it for 100 years before the flood came!

God doesn't promise that it will be easy - in fact, He promises that there will be trouble. But God is there...and it is in that complete surrender that God can do something great in our lives. Looking back at the darkest days in my life, when I felt alone and lost, God was still there. He still loved me, and I am a better person now because of it.

Linda asks where God has asked us to walk by faith. She asks if He wants us to maybe trust Him with an "illness, a child, a financial crisis, a [spouse], or lack of a [spouse]." Are we trusting God no matter what, or only when we can see what He is doing? Ultimately, answering these will tell us whether or not we are living a life of peace or anxiety.

She again ends with a prayer:

Holy Father, I am so weak. I want to trust You, but it is so hard to walk "by faith" when I can't see what You are doing. You are my Steadfast Rock. I desire to look only to You. I want to believe You for what I don't understand, what I can't see, and what doesn't make sense to me. Give me the power through Your Holy Spirit to begin pounding the nails into "my ark." May I become one who pleases You because I walk by faith.