Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself (Exploring the Fruits of the Spirit) group Bible study has been so rich for me. I plan to study it all over again, really mulling over the parts I feel God is trying to get through to me (let's just say there's A LOT for me to chew on!).
This last week was about faithfulness. Really, I don't feel I struggle with having faith. I'm kinda simple-God said it, that's all there is to it. Let's move on.
Yet this study really hit home with the anxiety I have had about a possible C-section. It's not about how much faith I have, but how faithful God is to me (and you!).
We studied about Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27 & 28. In this passage we see God's will being brought through a scary life or death turn of events. In order for God to get the glory, the ship had to run aground.
Let's get this out there, in case you missed it, I don't want a C-section. Not one bit. I could take up the position of "faith" saying I know I won't have to have one but that's not truth. I've HAD one. People have them all the time. There is nothing evil here the Lord must save me from. My feelings against a C-section can not be taken as fact. My thoughts are not his thoughts after all. Just because I don't want one that doesn't mean He doesn't have a bigger picture in mind for me.
Deliverance does not mean ease. He can delivery me from this situation in any way he wants. I may have another C-section. I may not. Either way, I want him to have the glory. I just need his peace (which I feel like I have now).
An interesting point Beth brought out is that not every Bible promise to every person applies to us today. I have thought this for years but I continue to hear Christians claim some random promise God gave to a specific person in a specific circumstance. She says, "We must seek His heart to know if a particular assurance is ours to claim in a particular moment."
One promise we can stand on is this: Our faithfulness does not equate with his. In other words, he doesn't base his faithfulness to us on our current faith level. Praise God-that's refreshing news!
Here are some other notes I wrote in the margins:
God desires to turn a weakness into a strength and that comes from going through not being delivered from.
If we feel defeated on a consistent basis, we are listening to the enemy on a consistent basis. (This one was very good for me to hear!)
The enemy wants to set a trap that can not be altered (Daniel's story of the law about praying to anyone but the king), but nothing he does can not be overridden by God.
He's been faithful in every previous crisis, won't he be faithful in this one?
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