Spiritual Algebra

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6

Where does faith come from, and why is it necessary to please God?

“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the Word of God.”

Romans 10:17

What does Holy Scripture say about His Word?

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God from the beginning.” John 1:1-2

So…having faith pleases God because you are hearing/listening to His Word, which means that you are actually hearing Him.

Beloved, faith doesn’t make things easy, it just makes them possible.

The Knot At The End of the Rope 140

Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?
 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
 He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:27-31

Have you ever felt this way? 

The feeling that you are alone, like a castaway on a deserted island, or adrift in the middle of a vast expanse of ocean, screaming at the top of your lungs, "HELP !", but you feel that no one is there to hear you?

Have you ever felt so weary, so exhausted,  that it is all you can do to draw a breath, that every step you try to take as you plod forward is as if your legs are 1,000 pounds of concrete ? The feeling that your prayers, your cries for help, are going unheard and unheeded, the words bouncing off the ceiling, like a rescue flare fired into an unseeing sky?

These painful emotions, are not from God; they are not the reality of God's Word. While we often may not understand His ways or thoughts, they are times when we may feel He's not paying attention to us, that He's unaware of our trials or circumstances. Suddenly He extends His scepter of grace, mercy, and love to us. As we reach out to touch it and begin to give Him thanks, even when we don't know what we're thanking Him for, we suddenly feel faith and hope dawning on us. Joy fills us, replacing hopelessness; weariness suddenly is supplanted by unexpected strength.

If you feel like you are at the end of the rope, hang on. 

Our hope and faith, beloved, is not unrequited. 

Hope in the Lord!