got faith? ~

Five months ago I was asked to speak to a group of woman between the ages of 19 and 65. These ladies were attending a woman’s Christian retreat called “Emmaus” (pronounced: e-may-us).

The Walk to Emmaus gets its name from the story in Luke 24:13-35

Luke tells the story of that first Easter afternoon when the risen Christ appeared to the two disciples who were walking together along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Like Christians who are blinded by preoccupation with their own immediate difficulties, these two disciples' sadness and hopelessness seemed to prevent them from seeing God's redemptive purpose in things that had happened.

And yet, the risen Christ "came near and went with them," opening the disciples' eyes to his presence and lighting the fire of God's love in their hearts. As they walked to Emmaus, Jesus explained to them the meaning of all the scriptures concerning himself.

When they arrived in Emmaus, Jesus "took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them," and their eyes were opened. They recognized him as Jesus, the risen Lord, and they remembered how their hearts had burned within them as they talked with him on the road.

Within the hour, the two disciples left Emmaus and returned immediately to their friends in Jerusalem. As they told stories about their encounters with the Lord, Jesus visited them again with a fresh awareness of his living presence.

My talk went something like this:
I was born with the “worry” gene and without patients. I worried about everything and anything, however my only sister that is four years younger is totally the opposite…there isn’t a worry gene in her and she has the patients, as I call it “ketchup out of the bottle” patients. She can just sit there holding the bottle upside down and wait for some ketchup to spill out. Not me…I have to dig into that bottle with a knife…I have no patients.

In October ’07, I arrived at this retreat in the same condition… with worry, lack of patients and subconsciously my faith was weak. I always said that I had faith and believed that I had faith, but didn’t realize that I wasn’t feeling the faith. This retreat opened my eyes and changed me.

Taking the walk to Emmaus made me realize that I didn’t have any real situations and that I constantly worried about nothing. God does not want us to waste our time being anxious because it is a distraction. Being worried and distracted are not things from God.

So, what was my problem?
Absolutely nothing except for the fact that I was blind.

What I didn't see was how extremely blessed I was with:
-A wonderful husband of 11 years who is kind, considerate, loving and extremely patient -Two beautiful boys
-We both have decent full-time jobs
-My parents are healthy and help me with my children when called upon
-My maternal grandparents that are in their late 80’s are alive and kicking

Looking back, I get upset at myself and even sad thinking about the burden that I was putting on my husband with all this “worry business”, but yet he never said one mean thing or complained.

Where am I now?
This retreat made me realize that the Lord knows what he is doing…"Thy will be done”. Now, how many times have I/we said that in prayer? Was I even paying attention? Well, I do now.

I put 1Peter 5:7 into practice on a regular basis. I give all my, worries, cares and fears to the Lord. By doing this, I have freed myself from that distraction. I’d like to say that I’m 100% worry free, but I still get concerned, so I put it all in prayer.

I have conversations with the Lord, thank him for all that he has blessed us with and ask for wisdom and discernment. He is the first thing that I think about when I open my eyes and the last before I close them.

I pray more. My husband and I pray together. Along with my children, this is so important to us and for our spiritual foundation.

I enjoy serving those who are less fortunate, after my first priority…serving my family. The rewards are great!

God is SO Good!