saltandlight

Back in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, Christians began a campaign of “faith over fear”. Crosses began to show up on people’s lawns. It was a symbol of our faith over our fear. It was a message to remind each other that God is bigger than a virus and He has everything under control.

I wonder how often we practice having faith over fear in our daily lives? It’s so easy to get caught up in the busyness and the activities each day. Anything that comes along to disrupt our schedule, can throw off our whole day or week. It can make us grouchy and cause us to be short with people when we don’t mean to be. (This is how it is for me sometimes!)

Faith over fear is an important lesson for us to carry with us. It keeps us from panicking when things happen that seem bad to us. Being strong in our faith is an excellent way to be a walking testimony to others! When people see the peace we have in any kind of situation, they want some of what we have! In a world full of evil, people are looking for peace now more than ever.

The Canaanite woman had faith and she even challenged Jesus when he tested her faith! (That’s brave!) The story is in Matthew 15:21-28. Her daughter was demon possessed and she was desperate for a miracle! When she asked Jesus for help, at first He denied her. But she persisted. It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t want to help her, He was testing her faith. Her faith is used as an example for all of us. Persist. Keep praying for a miracle!

If you haven’t heard the song “Don’t Stop Praying” by Matthew West, I recommend you listen to it! It has a good message that reminds us that our miracle could be just one prayer away! I’ve seen miracles that I’ve prayed for years over. I had even given up at times thinking that it just wasn’t going to happen. But God, in His sovereignty and in His timing, rewards us for our faith and our persistence!

We can’t give up on the the things that we are praying for. It may be a family situation, or a health concern. I’ve seen God work miracles in both of those in just the past couple of years! He can and He will work a miracle if it is His will to do so. We must remember that He is sovereign and He always knows best. We should always ask things if it is His will. Our will might not match up with His. That is where patience and understanding comes in. Submitting to God’s will and timing, is hard but through prayer and faith in Him, we can do that as well!

God is so good and He is faithful to meet our needs.

Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Matthew 15:21-28

It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23