“Living by faith means obeying God’s Word in spite of feelings, circumstances, or consequences. It means holding on to God’s truth no matter how heavy the burden or how dark the day, knowing that He is working out His perfect plan. It means living by promises and not by explanations.”- Warren Wiersbe, Be Obedient
Sheila Walsh concludes Chapter 6 of Holding On with three key promises that hold us when we struggle to hold on by ourselves.
Promise 1: Nothing can separate us from God’s love. First, Sheila underscores, the Greek word translated ‘convinced’ in Romans 8:38 has a much bigger story to tell. Hence, in the Greek perfect tense, the word can be understood as “I have become and remain convinced.”
After the apostle Paul’s dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, Christ called Paul into relationship with Himself. Now, twenty years later, Paul writes his letter to the Romans. Yet even though Paul endured many challenges during that period, he remained convinced of God’s love.
Promise 2: Everything will work out for our good. We face disappointment and disillusionment if we live with the following conviction. That because God loves us, He’ll orchestrate the details of our lives in a way that makes sense to us. If we think that way, we’ll be tempted to believe things have gone terribly wrong — and let go.
Above all, our life goal, on the best days and the worst, is to become more like Jesus. And that involves living by promises and not by explanations.
Promise 3: God will give us new strength. Finally, God’s promise to give us new strength represents a promise for the long haul. Or, as Eugene Peterson phrases it, a long obedience in the same direction.
Thus, ‘to wait’ truly means ‘to hope,’ to look to God for everything. As Aslan said to Lucy in C. S. Lewis’s Prince Caspian:
“I am not [bigger]. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”
Today’s question: Do you find yourself living by promises, not explanations? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Like snow upon the frozen ground”
