At our event How can we form a wellness plan?, the following question was asked. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get to it during the session.
When we look at Hebrews 11, the good works which the heroes of faith are praised for are specific such as Noah building an ark, Rahab helping spies, Moses being hidden by parents and so on. How must we understand our faithfulness to God’s calling? Can answering God’s call be just about being faithful to opportunities/interruptions that God allows as we pursue our natural interests and serve needs that we see?
Understanding what it means to be faithful to God is central to our life as disciples.
Thanks for sharing the question for the community to discuss. I am really interested in hearing from the experiences of others. Though I have faith in Jesus, I am not sure I have a clear picture of what faithfulness should look like. As a young believer, I viewed faithfulness mainly about being consistent with bible reading, prayer, participating in church activities and being kind to people. While all that is part of it, I now think faithfulness as surrendering our will to God and serving Him in His strength. As we try to stay true to our faith, I think God may orchestrate circumstances to humble us so thar He can accomplish His work in us. He may give us a limp in our physical condition just as He did to Jacob when He wrestled with God in the book of Genesis. Faithfulness when we are being humbled or tested builds deeper convictions so we can do what God requires from His strength as we realize we have little strength. Faithfulness is more about us being conformed to His image than what we accomplish in ministry. When God praised the different people in Hebrews for their faith, it may have been about their inner trust rather than the end result, which had to have been an outworking of their true faith. So if we want to live a life of faithfulness, what do we plan for? We aim for a Spirit led life. While there is nothing wrong in pursuing natural interests, we do it all for the glory of God relying on His strength and in righteousness. We submit our mind, soul, body under Christ’s control for overall spiritual wellness. We stay attentive to the prompting in our heart to meet the needs of those we encounter. We seek wisdom from others on how we can best serve the Lord. We can focus on the process of transformation rather than the product or practice. We pursue God more than our calling from Him.
Lakshmi, that is so rich! How can one add to what you’ve said? As I’ve been teaching my granddaughter through the first 6 books of Matthew, “It’s all a matter of the heart.” Several times in Matthew 6 Jesus says that whatever we do in relating to our Father who is unseen, He sees. In other words, God’s presence is such that He not only sees what we do, He sees the intentions of our hearts. Nothing is hidden from Him. So, I think we have to be faithful to God’s presence with us, knowing that whatever thought, word , or deed we have or do is seen by the Father. That encompasses all that Lakshmi has shared.
What you shared seems to be the secret! If we can just do that consistently through each day - being careful to quickly humble ourselves as we go about our daily decisions before God, I can’t imagine not growing! Thanks for sharing that wisdom!