Faith...

After two weeks of missing Bible study and Sunday school, I finally made it back to Bible study this morning. And my heart was SO hungry for it!!

We're studying Habakkuk, and today we talked a lot about faith. Hebrews 11:1 tells us "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

We talked this morning in about how faith is NOT a feeling, how it IS believing what God says and surrendering to it...and to live accordingly. I got to thinking, this is such a TALL order! How often in our world do we want to surrender to anything other than our human earthly wants and needs?

For our study we're using Kay Arthur's book "Lord, Where Are You When Bad Things Happen?", and I love how she says on page 140:
"Man is the center of his own world. What exists, exists for his pleasure. When he wants soemthing, he goes after it. He'll get it for himself. He will do it for himself. Self will be satisfied!
In a world like this, a man or woman who lives by faith is a rarity. Living by faith requires patience because the one who lives by faith becomes dependent upon God. You no longer call the shots. You no longer operate on your timetable. You don't just rush out to get, to do, to have, to satisfy. You pray. You ask. You seek his will, His counsel. Then you wait for God's leadership--His insight, His wisdom, His provision, His answer."

Oh how I long to be so patient! To give up my 'timetable'! I love how God has placed people in my life, to support, nurture, and feed me just what I need when I need it. A few years ago this would have gone right over my head...today my soul was filled with knowledge...with Truth...and with a desire to know my God more.

Feeling oh.so.thankful. :)