Building Faith
Danielle King / Webmaster and Data Administrator
Just before Christmas, I received “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom at a book swap. Over the blizzardy holiday, I opened it up and was quickly drawn into the powerful story. I knew it was a well-known book, and that Corrie Ten Boom was a Christian, but I didn’t know anything beyond that. What a powerful story it was! From cover to cover, it was filled with incredible moments of God’s provision and power in the midst of terror and desperate circumstances. Her faith, and the faith of her family members, fueled my own in deeper ways than I have experienced in a long time.
Not long after I finished that book, I happened to grab a couple of books from the library about Christian missionaries. Our family had listened to a short story about George Mueller not long ago, so I thought we might all enjoy hearing more about him. I couldn’t have imagined how enraptured we would all become each day, usually after dinner, when I pulled the book out to read another chapter! Shawn and I cried so many times when we read how God transformed George Mueller’s heart and answered his prayers over the many decades of his life. The kids cheered with every story of God’s provision and asked big questions about the trials and tough times recorded too. (Here’s the book we read: George Muller: The Guardian of Bristol's Orphans (Christian Heroes: Then & Now))
By this point, we had created a rhythm of reading most nights after dinner, or a quick chapter in the morning if we missed the night before (we couldn’t read ahead unless the whole family was home to hear it!). So we jumped right into another missionary’s biography: Lillian Trasher. Again, our whole family was wrapped up in her story of chasing God’s calling, faithfully serving despite desperate odds and sorrowful situations, and the amazing ways God answered prayers and provided. (Here’s the book: Lillian Trasher: The Greatest Wonder in Egypt (Christian Heroes: Then & Now))
Each story had its own takeaways and memorable moments, but all three were ultimately about being desperately dependent on God and finding joy in the darkest situations because of their faith in Him alone. Our whole family has been praying differently because of these stories. We pray expecting God to show up and answer. We look for Him in disappointment. We ask for impossible adventures and provision. We celebrate more. These stories have made us hungry for more faith!
A few weeks ago, filled with all this new excitement of what God can do, we spent time praying with our friends Andi and Mike Merrill . Together we asked God to send us invitations that coming week for opportunities to visit and share with other groups. And within that week, invitations did come in: from Cheektowaga, Lockport, and then Texas!
But God went even further. We were contacted at the end of that week and asked if we would ever consider sending a team to encourage their church plant in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. What?! Can we even do that? We decided as a group that if God was faithful to answer our prayers and provide the invitation, we can trust He will be faithful to provide the rest of the needs too. So, we all ordered passports. What an adventure!
I found my thoughts and feelings summed up beautifully in a friend’s post the other day:
“What ACTUALLY makes us special and set apart as Christians is being willing to turn toward God and say yes! No matter what He is asking or how big the cost is. Saying yes to God is worth dying to self and doing things scared. Because if He told you to do it He’s going to back it up… if you want to build faith, say yes to the hard things He is asking of you, because it puts you in situations where you HAVE to be desperate for Him to show up!” (original post here)
Her words were such an encouragement to me, especially because this adventure is just at the beginning. Every answered prayer is an invitation to depend on Him more. So we will keep going. Pray, say yes, share the stories along the way, and give God all the glory!