A Fight of Faith

As we travel down this road waiting for Addie's healing I keep turning to the story of David and Goliath. David a young shepherd boy comes to check on his brothers, who are out to battle. As he comes to the battlefield he sees a giant called Goliath come out and ridicule the Israelite army. The Israelite army becomes terrified and began to run away. This had happened for the past 40 days. David comes in and sees this and is decides he will fight the giant. Where all the warriors are terrified he claims victory because he knows the Israelites are God's chosen people and God will fight for them. 1 Samuel 17:37 "The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." He is able to live in faith by looking back over the ways God has been faithful to him, and look forward to the promises of God. If God had been faithful in the past why would he stop now? David knew that God's character didn't change regardless of our circumstances, and neither did His power. There was many other voices David could have listened to, but he chose to listen to God's voice, the voice of truth. David went out against Goliath without armor, without a sword, with only God and a sling. He came out victorious! His victory was not his victory, but God's. The facts had the tables turned against David, but as Romans 8:31b says "If God is for us, who can be against us?"  Faith is a fight everyday to look past this world and into God's world, but the voices of here and now can be so loud! As I pray for Addie I pray for my faith to grow and for God to help me hold on. I want to have the kind of faith that David had here because that is the faith that can move mountains. Matthew 17:20b "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."I love the story in Mark of a father who brought his son to Jesus to be healed he say help him if you can and Jesus responds “If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:23-24. I have been there. I do believe that the Bible is all true and it is always true, but there are so many outside voices sometimes that this becomes my prayer. "Lord I do believe, I do trust, I am willing to follow and obey wherever you lead, but help my unbelief." I don't think it always come from lack of faith, but from honesty. There is so much around us that wants to pull us down, we are in a spiritual battle daily. The devil doesn't want us to stand up to the giants in our life because he knows that when we come out there with our faith he has no chance.  Ephesians 6:16 promises "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." The shield of faith is more powerful than we know, so we must pray for an increase in faith and engross ourselves in the truth of the Bible. If we can manage that when the temptation to doubt or fear comes we have the answer. Jesus is the answer, His truth is the way to walk in faith knowing that what we see is not all there is! We are not promised easy lives but we are promised peaceful lives. John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." So as we go in our day-to-day I will hold on to the hope of the future and the promises from God regarding it.