Don't let it SHAKE your faith, let it SHAPE your faith!

I am documenting this so all can know that it is September 23, 2017.  I have been standing on faith and praying/believing that our sweet little Isaiah will bond with all of us instantly. It will be a miracle in itself. The plane ride will be smooth, the children will sleep well, our jet lag will bounce back quickly…Mark 9:23! I can’t wait to come back and share with you how faith prevailed and these prayers were answered!!! Thanks for praying with us!

The definition: 

Emotions - A natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.

I know all to well, that moment where emotions rise and feelings begin to justify our erratic emotional behavior! Ugh! It’s not fun. It is like we know in our hearts what is real, but the feeling of the THORN in our side…takes over. The question is how do we figure out how to handle those emotions and exercise more faith? Circumstances, mood, or relationships (people) can create high emotions.

In Joyce Meyer’s book study, Battlefield of the Mind she teaches on the importance of learning to conquer emotions instead of letting emotions drive our thoughts and actions. Emotions can be dangerous grounds for trying to make logical decisions and even damaging to some important relationships in our lives. It is why the old saying…”take some time to cool off before you do anything” holds a lot of truth.

While emotions are a wonderful thing because they let us love, laugh and live life to the fullest…they also let us cry, feel anger and even depression of heart. So where does SHAKE/SHAPE OF FAITH come from in the title of this blog?  Recently, I had been praying and standing firm on God’s word that this trip to China, the bonding of Isaiah with our family, and the travel would have a miraculous hand of favor over it. Statistically if you looked at the norm, it is quite contrary to those things. During this time I have truly held tight to some of my favorite verses and have been believing without doubt! Then…….I got some advice….someone was trying to help of course with info for our upcoming trip to China, she was sincere but it was full of information that could have shaken my faith for all that I was believing and praying.  

So the question is, did I take my own advice?

So here is how it played out and I hope this encourages you:

• Tempted to be shaken: I heard the negativity, I almost accepted it. I actually thought…well this seems to be the norm and what most have shared with me are these facts . I started to question if I was being a little to “optimistic”!
• Negative thinking comes in all shapes and forms. Be aware. Sometimes it’s innocently delivered like how it was in my situation. Be sure to collect the facts. If you begin to sense your mind wandering and if you feel FEARFUL that’s most often a reason to slow down and think through things before you let your mind spiral. Emotions can dangerously have a ripple effect. 

• Reflecting: Then I heard those forever words on my heart: Don’t let others views SHAKE your faith, let it SHAPE your faith!
• Perspective is everything. Use the facts or knowledge to instead teach you how to pray wisely and even better. Prayer is intimacy and God loves to hear them and our needs. Our details let us see His hand of favor when those details come to pass in our lives! If we never prayed for specifics, how would we ever be able to identify His blessings of answered prayers?

• Action: So I immediately said, awesome, I will take what all have told me and now I am going to use it to teach me how to pray smarter and wiser before we go! My attitude went from discouragement to encouragement!
• This is the most critical piece. It’s where you build your foundation of faith. The thoughts are powerful but the action is required in order to make it a habit. Remember in the other blog, when I spoke of how my grandmother gave thanks before calling 911 when she found my grandfather? That was a result of her habitual routine to always give thanks even when she didn’t feel like it or when it didn’t make sense. Practice makes perfect. Action is important. And what comes out of our mouths is a result of what is in our heart, so speak these good things and speak them out loud to convince yourself ;-)

• End result: Yes, I could have accepted our fate and rolled on through it. But I believe God loves us and wants to pour His favor and blessings over us. So I claim what is inherently mine and I do think it is meant to be that way. Scripture validates that. I could have used the temptations to SHAKE my faith but instead I let His purpose for me go through me…and I MADE A CHOICE to let it SHAPE my faith (ultimately drawing me closer to Him)! Now I went from point A to point B with MORE FAITH!

• TAKEAWAY FOR YOU? I hope that if someone or something comes your way and hurts your heart or attempts to SHAKE your faith…that you can:
•  stop, assess the situation, and assess your emotions. Then try to rationally think through what is not logical and remove those thoughts or think/pray on them and realize that you have the power and the ultimate authority as a believer, to entrust God with your need or worry.  
• ASK HIM TO USE THIS THORN TO SHAPE YOUR FAITH! You hear that PERSPECTIVE is everything…well it is. 
• You can choose PITY OR (Godly) PERSPECTIVE and they both have a lot of power. Which one you choose…will be the one that ultimately drives your fate and mood and faith!

I am sure a logical minded person would read this and think my optimism is cute but not realistic. Call it what you will. But in all actuality a heart full of faith without doubt pleases God. So I live for this. I am thankful for faith daily. Sure not ALL things may work out as I desire but I know in those times it’s always for greater purposes that He sees that I cannot see. It is those times that I have to withstand the test…and His goodness always prevails even when I struggle.

Verses to remind yourself…that FAITH pleases HIM and He can and will! 

• Mark 9:23 "What do you mean, 'If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes."
• Jeremiah 32:27 "I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?
• Hebrews 11:6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
• Matthew 21:21 Then Jesus told them, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘ ay you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen.
• Matthew 8:26 Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.

God loves when we fully depend on Him! He loves when we have the eyes of a child and we adore how wonderful He is. We are made by Him and FOR HIM, so when we recognize who He is and look to Him as a heavenly Father with childlike faith...HE SMILES with a full heart over us! I believe that! I do. I adore HIM and I look to him for all things SO SMALL to SO LARGE. I include Him in every detail..and I have not a doubt in my mind, that is how He desires it to be. Believe He can and WILL handle whatever it is you are seeking from Him today AND EXERCISE FAITH THAT HE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU. 

Remember, peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God. So seek more of Him!

Today’s Challenge:

If you’re serious for relief or change…then do try this! Action: Commit 110%! Whatever you may think is impossible begin to exercise great faith for the next week to 2 weeks, by expressing with your mouth saying out loud–every time you worry or get upset over an issue….

Lord I trust you. I love you. I know you care for me. Help me to submit to you and not to my emotions. Help give me wisdom, in James 1:5 you say you WILL GIVE US WISDOM FREELY….so bless me with the wisdom to see what you see so I can resist my (circumstantial, complex, moody) emotions. Teach me to be disciplined in this area of my life and give me your peace.  

You may be saying this 20 times a day, but God will bless your faithful heart with the ability to possess discipline over emotions and increased faith as a result.