THE OTHER SIDE OF FAITH

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A ONE-SIDED COIN?

The Christian life is described in Scripture as a walk of faith (II Cor. 5:7). Just as there are two sides to a coin, there are two sides to the walk of faith. On one side of our walk of faith there is comfort and ease. One this side, God seemingly answers our prayers rather quickly and we flow in almost uninterrupted victory.

On the other side of faith (the coin) there is suffering, trials, tribulations, persecutions, disappointments and sometimes flat out misery. If the truth be told, this is the side of faith that molds and fashions us into the kind of persons God what have us to be.

Normally, we do not grow spiritually when the road is easy. Therefore, God pre-ordains and decrees that we experience the other side of faith. If you are experiencing the other side of faith, here are a few nuggets of wisdom I have learned:

1. Faith doesn't always know where its going, it trusts the One who is leading.
2. Faith doesn't demand an explanation, it merely summons the grace and strength to endure.
3. Faith is not a blind leap into the dark, it is a deliberate step into the hands of a loving God with our eyes wide open.
4. Faith is not praying and getting from God what I asked for, it is praying and rejoicing over what He has chosen for me.
5. Faith is not a chance, but a certainty.
6. Faith is not a guessing, but a knowing.
7. Faith is not a mere contentment with human misery, it is a calming satisfaction in glorifying God.

Just as there is no one-sided coin, there is no one-sided walk of faith. Each aspect of our walk with Him is sovereignly decreed - the smooth, the rough and all that is in-between.

EATING ACORNS AND SHARING THE GOSPEL

Would you eat this? Yes, it's an acorn. Again, would you eat it? "I would if I were starving," you might say. If you were a guest at some one's home and they were eating acorns and were kind enough to offer one to you, would you eat it? "Probably not," might be your answer.

One day a friend of mine went street witnessing with a church group at a local housing project. He came across a group of kids playing outside. As he approached them, he noticed one small kid was eating acorns. As he proceeded to share the Gospel with them, the kid, very innocently, offered him an acorn. Without thinking, my friend took the acorn and ... Gulp. The taste? It was awful. Yet, he did not gag, frown or spit. Most importantly, he kept sharing the Gospel.

As my friend shared his experience with me, I thought to myself, "What a small price to pay in order to share the Gospel." You see, what my friend and I knew intuitively, is that we are not only called to verbally share the Gospel, but to also identify when needed with those to whom we share it. Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 9, verses 21-23 stated, "To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." (ESV)

So, eating an acorn is not all that terrible in light of the eternal consequences. Go ahead, take the plunge. You just might acquire the taste.