Do you ever think that you are the only one?....

Have you ever found yourself wondering if God is really there? Or have you
thought that perhaps Jesus was just a man? Or have you really found
yourself in a difficult circumstance and wondered if God really hears your
cry? Well, don't be too hard on yourself because you are actually in very
good company.

The twentieth century and now the twenty first century did not invent
disappointments and heartbreak. It has been around since the fall of man in
the Garden of Eden. Joseph was imprisoned for a rape that he did not
commit. And just when he thought that God had heard his cry and set him
free, he had to spend another 2 years in jail. His faith was really tested
with the addition of the two years. And what about John the Baptist? What
an amazing honor to be the one to be the Voice in the Wilderness crying out
to make ready for the coming of the Messiah. And yet he was thrown in
prison for his efforts. And his faith failed totally and he sent a
messenger to Jesus to ask Him if He really was the one the bible foretold of
or should they expect another. This was even after he heard the voice of
the living God and saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus. And then there
were the disciples. The very men who walked and talked and touched and were
taught by Jesus Himself and who witnessed countless miracles even to the
raising of the dead....and yet when Jesus was put to death, they despaired.
And when the women who had been at the tomb came to them and told them that
Christ had risen and was no longer in the tomb...they did not believe until
they saw. So you see, you really are in good company.

Faith is very fragile in the hands of we humans. We are taught that if we
believe in or see things that everyone else cannot see, it will win us a
room in the basket weavers union hall. But all of us HAVE to use faith
everyday. Why, it takes faith at night to believe that you will wake up in
the morning. Then faith to get into your car and not get killed on the way
to or way home from work. And today, with companies going under all the
time, you must have faith that you are basing your future on a good company.
So if we can have faith in such temporary things here on earth, why then is
it so difficult to believe in our Heavenly Father? To believe the promises
that He has laid out in the Bible for us? But alas, we are weak and can
take some comfort in the company we keep. But don't stop there. Realize
that God greatly blessed those I mentioned for their faith and He will bless
you too. You have faith every time a crisis comes your way. You hang on
for dear life for after all what else can you do but hang on? And you never
really fall. The hard time always passes and you have come through your
ordeal better and stronger for it even if you don't realize it right away.
You hung on to an "invisible wire" that held you up during your time of
need. You may not have seen it but it is there just as the author of it is
and that is our God in Heaven, living in a place we cannot see. So study
the Bible stories that you just thought were for kids in Sunday school and
you will find that you are not the only one who's faith is frail......Patti