November 25 Looking Back in Faith

Luke 9:12-13 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” 13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish — unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand were there.)
 
LET’S consider faith. The Bible defines faith in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith is “being sure” and having hope in God’s care the unseen moments right now and into the future.
   But have you thought of faith as looking back in life? Do you remember the times you experienced God’s hand on your life in some very loving, personal, even miraculous event? You certainly have experienced this if you confess Christ as your Lord. This miraculous confession happened because the Holy Spirit awakened in you a faith to believe in the gospel.
   Perhaps you look back in faith on your life each day to consider, “God has provided for me a job, a home, a family and food.” In faith, then, you look back and say, “God has given me life.” With this past faith view, you will look into the future unseen moments “being sure of what (you) hope for and certain of what (you) do not see.”
   This why God repeatedly told his people to “remember” the miracles of the exodus, Passover, Red Sea crossing, manna in the desert, etc. He wanted them to look to their past in faith, so they would have faith in what he would do into the future. Such faith is a source of great peace for you, especially when huge issues loom large in your future view. Remember what God has done. Trust him to be with you again and always.
   This is the faith view the disciples needed that day as they stood before a hungry congregation. If they looked into their past – just a day, a week, a month or a year before this day – to remember Jesus’ many demonstrations of physical and spiritual healing, perhaps they would have eagerly and faithfully acted into Jesus’ instruction, “You give them something to eat.”
   Faith in God is about looking back and looking ahead. Why are you “hungry” today? Do you hunger for someone to listen to your frustrations? Are you hungry for healing for yourself or a friend? Do you even starve for peace in your heart? Might you want to more personally “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8)?
   A good place to satisfy your hunger is to faithfully remember that Jesus urges us to receive his nourishment: John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
   In faith, see that through Christ’s salvation and the Spirit’s power, you “have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge –  that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19)
   Faithfully remember what God has done. And you will steadfastly live with a sure and certain hope.
 
Prayer. Lord God, I pray to always faithfully remember your great works in my past life. I trust you for the future. In Jesus’ name, amen.