The kind of faith that I want

Do you ever get the overwhelming feeling that God’s really not done with you yet?

The other evening when I was praying and journaling I realized that all this meditating on challenge and an atmosphere of growth had got me wanting more, particularly, when it comes to faith.

I was reading about the woman who bursts into Jesus’ dinner with Pharisee #1 and starts dousing his feet with expensive perfume, washing them with her tears, and drying them with her hair.  It’s one of the most powerful, passionate acts of faith in the Bible I think, because it’s so repulsive to the people around her, and yet so pleasing and meaningful to Jesus.

I also recently reread the lines from my childhood about the man who builds his house upon the rock and the other who builds it on the sand, but the line that struck me was the opener, the part in chapter six where Jesus asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord.’ and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.”

And that’s the kind of faith that I want.  The kind of faith that doesn’t always involve all that thinking or theologizing, but a strong foundation, a deep communion with God, and real listening and action.  The kind of faith where I truly abide with God through every moment, with every fiber in my being, so when I run up against all of life’s hard questions, I don’t fear and fret, but I’m faithful, I’m thankful, and moving evermore toward God.

There’s just always more.  You can be at this whole living by faith thing for years (it’s been a few for me), and bam, it hits you–

It’s not over, it’s only just beginning.

And there’s a lot of living left to do.