December 1, 2017
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And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. – Romans 4:21
One
cloudy day in November, the airplane in which I sat took off from
Medford, Oregon, bound for Los Angeles, California.
The weather in Medford had been cloudy and the skies gray for many
days, perhaps weeks. Then the plane soared upward and passed through the
thick bank
of clouds into the atmosphere above.
Sun! As soon as we emerged from the cloudbank, the skies were clear.
When I saw the bright
clouds below us stretching out in all directions, I could not help but
think about God. As we flew south, the clouds beneath us would
part now and then and we could see farmland, winding mountain roads,
lakes, and houses. Some of them were covered with the shadow of the
clouds, and
others lay in patches of clear sunlight. I began to think about
perspective: some people down there were enjoying a sunny day, whereas
others viewed
the day as dark and cloudy. But from where I was sitting, far above
the clouds, it was all sunny and bright.
The Lord spoke to me then
about faith. Clouds are like the circumstances of life, and the sun is
like God’s promises. Our daily lives are at times dark
and cloudy—we cannot see the sun. Nevertheless, the sun shines. Even
though we cannot see it, we believe it, and once in a while the clouds
move
and the sun appears for a few minutes or hours, warming us and
reminding us of its presence.
Our focus verse is a
comment made by the Apostle Paul about Abraham. He was a man who learned
(as we all need to do) to keep his eyes above the circumstances
of life that could cloud his vision. He learned to live a life of
faith. The focus verse could be reworded into a one-sentence summary of
Abraham’s
life: God promised, Abraham was persuaded, and God performed.
What exactly is faith?
Faith is confidence that God will do what He has promised. Faith is
believing that the sun shines, even when you cannot see anything
but clouds.
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