Onward, Forward – The Story Box

At first glance it is nothing more than an old cheap blue plastic notebook. Thumb through the pages and you’ll find the names of over 140 individuals – those who supported us during a two year odyssey in our lives. At some point Daniel took it upon himself to total those columns; $30,280, all unsolicited.

I find that old plastic blue notebook priceless. Because of the stories. Because of the names of people. Most of all, because it is a tangible reminder of God’s doings. It grounds us in what He has already done and gives us confidence of what He might do again.

Let me go afield here for and minute for some needed clarification. When I reflect upon our journey of faith and prayer, I am in no way insinuating that God gave into our selfishness. As a matter of fact some of His clearest leading was when we received a “no” to what we wanted.

None of us should expect that we can manipulate the Almighty into a Lamborghini in the driveway, a promotion to be president of the company, our children making the game winning shot to win the state championship, or an all expense paid vacation to the Bahamas.

As we seek God with our hearts, as we are guided by the mind of Christ, then we can expect that He will meet our needs, work things out for good, direct our paths, answer prayer and call others to new birth and freedom.

Living by faith is never out-dated. We all go from stage to stage, circumstance to circumstance, season of life to season of life. Each gives us a fresh wake-up call to trust in the faithfulness of God. And I can say with confidence that without faith it is impossible to please Him.

As we move onward and forward there will be some uncertainty, maybe a lot of uncertainty. There will be some doubts and doubters. There will be some risk. That’s just the nature and environment of faith. But as Elizabeth Elliot reminds us, “There is no need for faith where there is no consciousness of an element of risk.”