Day 9: Faith

Our provision for all things that pertain to life and godliness

Faith, to Peter, is assumed among his readers. This faith is the divine antecedent to all things pertaining to “life and godliness.” Peter’s exemplar to the faith-filled life is—no doubt—Jesus Christ. It was Jesus who took on the weakness of man in His incarnation (Philippians 2.6-8). It was Jesus who accomplished the perfect will of the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12.18, Luke 4.18, John 1.33). And it is Jesus, through His death, resurrection, and ascension, who has provided the means for us to receive everything that we need to be “partakers of the divine nature” (John 14.11-12; 15.16; 16.13, Ephesians 2.8-10).

• Read 2 Peter 1.5-8
• In what areas of your life is God inviting you to receive His gift of faith at a deeper level?

Since day one of this exercise I think that I have been better able to accept God’s invitation to receive His gift of faith at a deeper level. Day one allowed me to reflect on the need I had to experience a deeper faith and I feel that I made a conscience effort to work on my faithfulness. The beautiful thing about this, is the relief that it brings. Being able to turn things over to God in faith that He will handle them, leaves me without anxiety and worry that typically occupy my mind. There are still areas that need work. While I have made a bit of headway on conquering my “what if” lack of faith, I am still struggling with a great deal of self-doubt. In reading through this on day eight, I have come to the realization that I am perfect right where I am with regards to my academics, my mothering, and my Christian walk. I spend quite a bit of time and energy being nervous about not being good enough in those areas life. Worry and insecurity leads directly to guilt for me, which bogs me down in a self-induced depression about who I am at any given time. It is apparent that in addition to the relinquishment of my self-centered control, I must also be willing to allow myself the room to be imperfect in my world.

• How is God inviting you to practice His gift of faith within your community?

I think God keeps testing me in this area. He truly wants to see me trust Him completely and I believe that sometimes the outcomes of certain projects may be directly related to His jerking at me for more trust. There are many times when it just seems like everything that could go wrong does and often it is then that I realize exactly why that is so. I believe that God is inviting me to practice His gift of faith in my community by putting me in certain places at just the right time to be handed a specific task for which I may not have the confidence to pull off.