When I was a little girl, I would spend my summers running and playing on the dirt roads around our farm house in the “country”. Looking back now, it is so funny to me that our “Summer Home” (which was a trailer house in the middle of the woods) was about seven miles from our big house “in town.” It seemed so far away back then! We would stay at the “Summer Home” so that my parents would be close to the garden and the hayfields. Then during the winter, we would go back to the big house where we would be closer to school.
I remember those first few days of summer, trying to walk on the rocky dirt roads with bare feet. (I hated wearing shoes!!) The bottoms of my feet would get so very sore, and I would have to walk on the road a while, then over on the shoulder of grass for a while. (But I refused to wear shoes for some reason??) After a few days of running back and forth from my house to my cousin’s house, my feet would be as tough as nails (and probably very dirty)!
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 (NIV)
By the end of the summer, I didn’t have to walk on the grassy shoulder of the road anymore…I could happily run and play on the rocky dirt with my toughened feet…no problem!
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.” Habakkuk 3:19 (NIV)
It seems like everywhere I turn lately God is showing me something about faith. Our Sunday school lessons have been about faith, our women’s ministry just started a new study about faith, there was a message at the teen conference we attended last week about faith…
“because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance”
perseverance = endurance = patience
Just like walking on those rocky dirt roads toughened up my tender feet and prepared me for my summer journeys…the trials that I face today will toughen up my tender faith…and prepare me for my life journeys.
“let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”
Without those rocks, my feet would have stayed soft and weak. Without trials, our faith will stay weak. We have to trust that at the end of our “summer” of trials…we WILL be tougher, more mature, more complete.
“he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the HEIGHTS”
With our faith strengthened…He takes us higher…from the depths below…He lifts us up…He sets us free to happily run the race that is set before us….with bare feet, toughened like the feet of a deer through trials.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds”
Be joyful…He is preparing you for the HEIGHTS.
Listen to this song: Ever Lifting, Christy Nockels Have a Faith-Filled Day!!!!
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 (NIV)
By the end of the summer, I didn’t have to walk on the grassy shoulder of the road anymore…I could happily run and play on the rocky dirt with my toughened feet…no problem!
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.” Habakkuk 3:19 (NIV)
It seems like everywhere I turn lately God is showing me something about faith. Our Sunday school lessons have been about faith, our women’s ministry just started a new study about faith, there was a message at the teen conference we attended last week about faith…
“because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance”
perseverance = endurance = patience
Just like walking on those rocky dirt roads toughened up my tender feet and prepared me for my summer journeys…the trials that I face today will toughen up my tender faith…and prepare me for my life journeys.
“let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”
Without those rocks, my feet would have stayed soft and weak. Without trials, our faith will stay weak. We have to trust that at the end of our “summer” of trials…we WILL be tougher, more mature, more complete.
“he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the HEIGHTS”
With our faith strengthened…He takes us higher…from the depths below…He lifts us up…He sets us free to happily run the race that is set before us….with bare feet, toughened like the feet of a deer through trials.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds”
Be joyful…He is preparing you for the HEIGHTS.
Listen to this song: Ever Lifting, Christy Nockels Have a Faith-Filled Day!!!!
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