Faith

Ok, so it’s been about a week now since I finished reading a booked called Reckless Faith – Let Go and Be Led by Beth Guckenberger and it’s had me thinking. (There is lots of time to do that on this journey to rescue Maks, Alona, and Natasha.) In case you do know, I don’t read much, and if I do it’s the USA Today version of it. So, for me to read a book is a big deal. Some background - Jenny had bought this book on a recommendation from someone else and gave it away to a dear friend before she had a chance to read it herself. Before we left for Ukraine, the friend brought it by and gave to Jenny to read while traveling. More background - not only do I not read, but I rarely read this type of material because I’m afraid that my walk with Christ is not as “holy” as the writer's. (I know! It’s an area in my life I need to work on and God and I are doing that right now!) I’m glad I submitted to the Holy Spirit and Jenny’s urging and started reading it on the airplane and when Jenny didn’t have it in her hands, I picked it up.

It’s a book of journal entries from experiences that Beth has had while serving God in a ministry she and her husband started a number of years ago in Mexico caring for orphans. In the book, she talks about having a relationship with God so strong that she describes it as a “reckless faith”.

As I read the entries and stories, I begin to ask myself questions about my faith. What would I describe my faith as? Can I describe my faith and relationship with God through His son Jesus as “reckless”? Is my faith, reckless, controlled, obedient, careless, or something else?

Here is how Beth describes the “reckless faith” she talks about in the introduction of the book: “As a child I used to sing songs about the Refiner’s fire. The analogy is of silver and dross. As the fire heats the silver, the impurities come to the surface and are skimmed off, leaving the silver more and more refined, in the analogy, refined means “pure,” and naturally I want the impurities of sin to come to the surface, so that my faith can be ever more pure. That kind of refinement is part of what the Holy Spirit draws us to with each conviction and subsequent confession.
But refined can also be defined as “cultivated” and fastidious.” That kind of “refined faith” is the opposite of the reckless faith I’m writing about here. The sort of “refined faith” is predictable and resistant to change; it pretends to know what God will do a hundred Sundays from now. It is most comfortable with rules, consequences, and baby steps. It likes control and people who agree. It fears what it can’t see. A truly reckless faith, however, always expects change, and as a result, it’s eager to risk more and fear less! A reckless faith knows there is more to the story, more we can’t see, more than I experience now. It is hungry.
While watching the movie It’s a Wonderful Life the other night with my family, I saw a sign on the wall of George Bailey’s office. (Jimmy Stewart plays George, a kind man who places people before profit in a savings and loan business.) The sign reads, “You can only take with you what you have given away.” George was on to something there. A reckless faith is more concerned with the balance of what you’ve given than what you have left.
Reckless faith always has one foot in eternity. It measures people by their actions and not their belongings. A reckless faith believes when there is no evidence and hurls itself at what is unseen but promised. A reckless faith isn’t “refined” in the least. It does not make sense to the world, and yet, the world often seems fascinated by it.”

I guess after reading the book, I’m pretty sure I have different types of faith at different times. With regards to our being obedient to God’s calling us to rescue Maks, Alona and Natasha, I’m pretty sure my faith in that calling (and Jenny’s too) would be described as “reckless”!

As I embarked on this journey, the Holy Spirit gave me a peace beyond all understanding. I knew that if I would submit to His call, (to rescue these children who He so graciously introduced me too less than ten months ago), He would provide. For this journey, God provided me with a “reckless faith”. A faith so strong it could manage the unknown, the changes, the uncertainties, answers to questions I didn’t have answers for, etc.

Today, I stand on this truth – my “reckless faith” in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit has me here NOW rescuing Maks, Alona, and Natasha. He will conitinue to provide and write the rest of the story. Praise be to our King!

God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, "He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon."
2 Corinthians 9:7-9

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 NIV

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12 NIV

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16 NASB

In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is, destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal. John 12:25 MSG

Blessings <><,

David