The Author and Finisher of our faith

Jesus is a writer.

He is the Author of our faith.  He is writing it, we're just living it out.

Faith is built in the dirt, muck, and mire of life.

So what is God writing anyway?

Do you want your "happy ever after" more than you want a perfected faith?  And do the two have to be mutually exclusive?

Do you get more excited about acquiring earthly transient stuff than you do about spiritual growth and strengthening your faith?

I believe God is writing a very different story than we would have written for ourselves.

God's story for our faith is much grittier.  How do I know? Because holy heart work is painstaking.  God has something much more precious for our lives.

He is grinding at the mill.  And the grist is our faith.

That's His greatest desire for us - that we let Him finish our faith story.  Do we believe Him?  Do we trust Him?  Do we want Him more than our earthly pursuits?  When you think about how a self-sufficient God - the Creator of everything and everyone - wants us, it blows your mind.  He certainly doesn't need us.  But He wants us!  He wants a relationship with us!  He wants to be believed in!  

Belief in God may sound pretty basic, but how many claim to have no belief in God? (see Psalm 14:1)

He wants to finish what He started in us.  He wants to hone our faith.

How does anyone finish a job?  Painstakingly.  Over time.  With much hard work and patience.  Blood.  Sweat.  Tears.

That's how any really great work is ever accomplished in any field, area, or realm of life.

So why would we think the job of finishing our faith is any different?

We may go to church on Sundays.

But that is not where most of our faith is built.  We learn God's Word there, hopefully.  We worship and fellowship. 

But the Author of our faith never slumbers or sleeps.  He is at work on perfecting (finishing) our faith 24/7.  

True faith is tested.  It is forged in the fiery furnaces of trials and tribulations.  Job was already a righteous man before God; but after the Lord removed everything and everyone from his life, Job really saw God as He was, knew Him more intimately, and realized that even his faith was too shallow until the Lord had His way with him.    

Think of our faith as a granite countertop.  The granite you see in your kitchen did not come that way from nature.  It went through a very extreme process to come out shining, resilient, and usable.  It pretty much holds up against anything.  It is durable.  Christ wants us to possess those same "granite-like" qualities, spiriually speaking.  But it takes commitment, perseverance, and a willingness to let Him hone us!

Our lives as Christians should not be like those in the world.  We are different.  As Christians, we trust in God's greater story.  We are most definitely not the master of our destinies.  You gave that up the day Christ saved you, whether you know it or not.

You are His now.  And boy does His script play out differently than we could ever have imagined!

The "plot" is always for the perfecting of our faith.

We need to understand the purpose of the "script" when life hands us more muck and mire than we bargained for.

To help you understand God's ways:

Since God is the Author of time, He is never late.
Since God is the Maker of our lives, His plan is best.
Since God is Omniscient, His will for us is always right.

The granite countertop maker doesn't stop halfway.  He doesn't stop until the piece of granite is perfect, as perfect as it can be.  And all for something that is temporal!

How much moreso the Lord works on us - carving out and refining us - perfecting our faith until He brings it and us into glory!

We are the "granite."  And Jesus is doing whatever it takes to bring us out shiny, resilient, able to withstand pretty much anything, by His grace.

Will we allow Him to perfect our faith, no matter what it takes?  He is after our faith - bringing us and it to perfection, completion, and gut-wrenching shine.

We can either be as Job - accept whatever God has for us as the Author of our faith and life.  Or we can be as Job's wife - give up on God and throw in the towel.

I believe every day is filled with opportunites to either be as Job or Mrs. Job!  

It will all be worth it in the end.  We could never write a better story for our lives than God.  Let's trust Him more in this faith walk we are on.  After all, He knows exactly what He is doing.

Dear Lord. Please help me remember that true faith is not forged in the good times, but mostly in the hard times.  Help me trust You in all of it.  For You are the Supreme Author of my faith, my life, and my heart.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.