"It must be broken," said the mother to her five year old son. His sad eyes looked at the toy, his favorite one, and he kept pressing the button as if it would work the more he pressed it."Come on, let's go. It doesn't work, we'll get a new one." His mother tugged him along, holding his hand, but he still kept hoping it would turn on. As he follows his mom, he glances back at the toy three different times while they walked away. On the fifth glance he saw a light and soon to follow was a squeal. "Mommy!" He exclaimed. "It's WORKING!" He quickly pulls his hand away from his mother's and runs to the toy. Although it appeared to be dying, it was working. Just as he believed it would.
This image kept coming to my head as I thought about having faith that does not give up in believing. It also ties in with faith like a child (Matthew 18:3). Too often we give up on what appears dead, and lack to have the proper faith. Just as the child truly believed a broken toy could still work, we should keep our faith that God still works. That nothing in this entire world is too hard for Him. Nothing is impossible with the God that we serve. He has proven this in many lives before, and He reminds us in His word.
What if we spent our lives accomplishing almost finished projects? What if we stepped away from a miracle the hour before it came? What if we gave up the moment before the reward would come? What kind of lives would we be living? What kind of hearts would be growing? What kind of patience would we be developing?
But what if we accomplished each task we were given? What if we kept walking until the miracle appeared? What if we never gave up until the reward came? What kind of lives would we be living? What kind of hearts would be growing? What kind of patience would we be developing? I like to call that "undying faith." A faith that does not waver, nor doubt. God puts in our hearts what He desires us to believe in and it is the very thing that comes to your mind when you question Him. It's the very thing that hits you hard and runs deep in your soul. It's what you humanly try to imagine as something great, despite how off you can be. You're still capable of believing in something that makes you smile. God just has a plan to allow that to happen in the most perfect way, if only you stick through the fight.
I may not know what reward God has planned to the specific details of what, when, where, who, and why. But I do know that He has a reward by His word, His love, and His promises. I can sit back and imagine the last 5 years of my life and the one thing I notice is that God gave me strength that no man could have alone. God gave me happiness when my life looked hopeless. God gave me that hope to make up for the moments I'd lose it. God brought me up so many times to prove His strength. At one point in my life, I wanted to disappear from the world just to escape reality. Had God not picked me up from the floor, I cannot imagine being here today.
Developing an undying faith is setting your eyes on the finish line. It's running the race with endurance (Hebrews 12:1) and pushing aside any sin that tries to tie us down or trip us. It's okay to hesitate before fully believing in what God is saying. I believe He admires our apprehensive behavior upon receiving a huge calling because it shows that we are careful with what to believe. He wants us to check in with Him to make sure this is what He desires for our lives. But He wants our faith to be strong, so that nothing can stop it.
2 Timothy 4:7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.When a situation looks completely hopeless, we must put our faith in God. We mustn't believe we will suffer, fail, or internally die but rather grow, endure and live for eternity with Him. If we set Him as our strength, we can accomplish anything. Allow your faith to help you dream big. Believe until the end, fight until the end, and worship until the end. This world is going to be filled with the enemy who will in any way that he can attack you and steal your faith. He wants to bring you down and feed you lies. Lies that cause you to worry, doubt, and question God all over again. But bring yourself back to God's living Word. Bring yourself back to the moment God picked you up and spoke to you. Set yourself in silence and just listen to Him love you.
If your battle be within yourself, or with another person, don't stop fighting when it's hard. Just wrap yourself in God and believe there is a reward when you fight for what is right. When you fight for God and for His promises and healing, you fight a good fight. And with God, you're already a winner the moment you gave Him your life. God doesn't change His mind. If He said it once to you, He meant it. Allow that to stabilize your faith so that it does not waver or fade. Just believe the impossible and go for it.
