Several years ago, as I was praying for our
TLCCM team of workers in Tijuana, and the Lord gave me a Word for them. Our
team of workers are heroes in the faith. They really are! They work long hours
without pay, in various areas of the ministry. Many of them work behind the
scenes where nobody really sees their dedication and faithfulness.
Nevertheless, they do what they do with joy and in unity. They are heroes in
the faith.
In this BLOG, I want to encourage those of you, who
serve the Lord in whatever area of ministry you have been called to serve. Mostly,
I want to encourage the ones that work behind the scenes or in a capacity that
many times your work and dedication is not understood or appreciated. I
especially want to bless those who might feel like an “unknown” even if you are
always surrounded by people.
Many of you reading this article are heroes in the
faith! Most of you just don’t realize it.
The Lord uses various situations and difficult times
in our lives to build our character and to bring forth the hero in us. He will often
bring to the forefront a good and talented christian person that would
otherwise stay unknown in their own environment. He will use situations,
problems and adversities to reveal a real person of faith, a hero in the faith.
I sincerely think that the Lord seeks to bring out “a hero in the faith” in all
of us.
Through those various situations and often difficult
times, the heroes in the faith come forth with strength, peace, dedication and
wisdom. We are not all called to be Billy Graham. But, every day, we are certainly are all
called to do make a difference around us, no matter who we are or where we are.
Pastor Paul Goulet of the International Church
of Las Vegas once said something that deeply touched my heart. His words were: ”Can we change the world?” Many people think: “No, I can’t change the world. But the fact is
that we can. If each of us does what the Lord asks us to do, we can change the world
one person at a time, no matter who we are or wherever we are.
Your age is not important, your education
although important, is not mandatory. What is important is having a pure and
humble heart and a willingness to serve.
1 Samuel:17 we read that David was such a person.
Like many of us, David was an unknown. But, he had a servant’s heart. He was young. For the most part, he was out in the
fields near Bethlehem taking care of his father’s sheep. Not a very
prestigious job.
He was a shepherd boy. He was not even on the
battlefield with his brothers. He only went to the battlefield when his father
Jesse asked him to bring food and to inquire about the well-being of his brothers.
After he had brought the food to the
keeper of the supplies, he ran to the battle line to see his brothers. As he
was talking with them, Goliath the champion soldier of the Philistines came out
of his lines to harass and threaten Saul’s army. For 40 days this aggressive giant
had come out of the lines of his army and shouted defiance to the Israelites.
Today was going to be different, David was there in
front of Goliath. David the little shepherd boy, David the unknown. Today,
things were going to change. While David studied the situation, all the
Israelites ran away in fear.
David was brave. He had killed a lion and a bear to
protect his sheep. But when he came forward to offer to fight Goliath even one
of his brothers made fun of him. He even asked him with whom had
David left his few sheep. He accused David of being conceited.
He made David feel like
he had no value. Did this ever happen to some of you? It has happened to me,
and more than once. It certainly is not a good feeling. It is difficult for our
emotions and self-esteem when someone cannot find anything positive to say
about you, about your calling or about your everyday decisions. It takes faith,
determination and the knowledge that you know who you are in Christ to be able
to shake those negatives comments. It takes faith to believe that because of
Jesus you have value.
David was not one to give up. So, he stepped away
from his brothers and went to the other soldiers. But they also mocked him. Out
of sheer frustration, he said: “Can’t I even speak? ”
He was more of a diplomat that I would
have been. I would have said: “What is your problem?”
Finally, he told Saul: “Do not to
lose heart on account of this Philistine, your servant will go and fight him.
Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came
and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued
the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck
it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this
uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the
armies of the living God.”
David completely depended on God. In verse 37 he says: “The LORD who delivered me
from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand
of this Philistine." He did not say, might
deliver me, possibly he will deliver me. NO, he said He
will deliver me.
Crisis,
trial or difficulties forces to get on our knees and completely depend on God. I
know that to be true. I’ve been on my knees a lot in the past several years. I
would not have made it without completely trusting God to take care of me.
David
knew how to depend on God. How else
would he have had the faith and confidence to face this 3 meter's giant with only
a few small rocks?.
We must face our crisis or difficult situations with
the same faith David faced Goliath. We
must speak the Word of God in faith and tell our giants the same thing David
told Goliath. With faith and authority
we must say: “Devil, you come against me
with situations, problems, difficulties…… but I come against you in the name of
the LORD Almighty….Devil this day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I will
defeat you and the whole world will know that the Lord is my God.
David had great faith in God. He was confident that
the Lord would resolve a very dangerous situation. Actually, for David, it
could have meant death.
He might have been just a shepherd
boy, but David had the faith of a
giant.
We must all learn to trust the Lord with the faith
of David.
In
1983, Roger and I traveled to Israel. Our travel guide took us to an olive grove to show us how they made
olive oil. For this procedure, olives are put in a round cement container
(tank). Over the olives, they install weights to long pieces of wood. The donkeys are then harnessed to those
weights and pieces of wood. They then proceed to go around and around the
cement container. While they go around and around the weights put pressure on
the olives. It is a long procedure, but eventually they get oil
In
times of crisis we are like the olives, we are pressed on every side. We feel
the pressure. But if we learn to trust
to Lord, the “oil” of His strength, the “oil” of His peace, the “oil” of His
love will pour out on us and get us through our crisis. This is how we grow in
our faith, this is how we overcome the enemy of our soul.
I
personally know many of you who read this BLOG. In my eyes you are heroes in the faith. You have been through some very difficult
times, but I have also seen you completely trust the Lord. Trust the Lord with
the same faith David had when he faced Goliath.
Through those difficult times, you have learned to
let the oil of His peace, the oil of His love, the oil of His faith be your strength. You have been through some rough situations, but you have always come
out on the other side, praising God, being a good witness and continuing to
serve Him. I call you: Heroes
in the faith.
For those I do not know, in whatever crisis
you may be going through right now, may I please encourage you to have the
faith of David. Trust the Lord that He will be
with
you and give you the strength you need for your own situation. There is no Goliath that the
Lord cannot help you conquer. Sometimes
He will deliver you from your fire. Other times He will let you go through the fire.
But always, He is with you in your fire. (Pastor John Haggee)
Let your prayer be: “Lord give me faith of David to
go through this crisis, be with me in this difficult situation. Pour out your
oil of love, peace and strength over my life.” Amen!
Please, don’t lose heart in the face of your crisis
because our God is faithful, always so very faithful. Amen! By keeping faith in the Lord and
continuing to serve Him through the good days and through the hard days, you
will become or continue to be heroes in the faith.
Most important never forget to always be grateful
and to give God all the glory.
DenisePlease note: Reading 1 Samuel chapter 17, will help you understand what I wrote in this BLOG.
