Life's Challenges - Stories - Faith
| Faith | ||||
| Faith Can Move Mountains | ||||
| Faith Is Everything | ||||
| Faith Manages | ||||
| The Rock |
Faith Can Move
Mountains
A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary
on a piece of land willed to them by a church member. Ten days before the new
church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the
parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church
doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new
sanctuary. Unfortunately, the church with its undersized lot had used every inch
of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built. In order
to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the
back yard. Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would
meet that evening with all members who had "mountain moving faith." They would
hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and
to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and painted before the
scheduled opening dedication service the following week. At the appointed time,
24 of the congregation's 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for
nearly three hours. At ten o'clock the pastor said the final "Amen". "We'll open
next Sunday as scheduled," he assured everyone. "God has never let us down
before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too." The next morning as he
was working in his study there came a loud knock at his door. When he called
"come in", a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat
as he entered. "Excuse me, Reverend. I'm from Acme Construction Company over in
the next county. We're building a huge shopping mall. We need some fill dirt.
Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church?
We'll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of
charge, if we can have it right away. We can't do anything else until we get the
dirt in and allow it to settle properly." The little church was dedicated
the next Sunday as originally planned and there were far more members with
"mountain moving faith" on opening Sunday than there had been the previous week!
Would you have shown up for that prayer meeting? Some people say faith
comes from miracles. But others know: MIRACLES COME FROM FAITH!
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The Rock
A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with
light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do,
and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the
man was to push against the rock with all his might.
This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun
down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the
unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his
cabin sore, and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.
Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, the Evil Impulse
decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man's weary mind: "You
have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't budged. Why
kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it." Thus giving the man
the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure, these
thoughts discouraged and disheartened the "Why kill myself over this?" he
thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort and that will
be good enough."
And that he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer
and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord", he said, "I have labored
long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have
asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a
millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"
The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve me and
you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all
your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I
expected you to move it. Your task was to push.
And now you come to me, with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed.
But, is that really so? "Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled,
your back sinewed and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and
your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much
and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have.
Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push
and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done. "I, my
friend, will now move the rock."
At times when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to
decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience
and faith in Him....... By all means, exercise the faith that move mountains,
but it is still God who moves the mountains.
Author Unknown
Faith
Years ago, I was enthralled as I
listened to a pastor who for several years had faithfully served the church. His
executive responsibilities had taken him all over this country. As he concluded
his message, he told of one of the most frightening yet thought-provoking
experiences of his life.
He had been on a long flight. The first warning of the approaching problems came
when the sign on the airplane flashed on: "Fasten your seat belts." Then, after
a while, a calm voice said, "We shall not be serving the beverages at this time
as we are expecting a little turbulence. Please be sure your seat belt is
fastened."
As he looked around the aircraft, it became obvious that many of the passengers
were becoming apprehensive. Later, the voice of the announcer said, "We are so
sorry that we are unable to serve the meal at this time. The turbulence is still
ahead of us." And then the storm broke. The ominous cracks of thunder could be
heard even above the roar of the engines. Lightening lit up the darkening skies,
and within moments that great plane was like a cork tossed around on a celestial
ocean. One moment the airplane was lifted on terrific currents of air; the next,
it dropped as if it were about to crash.
The pastor confessed that he shared the discomfort and fear of those around him.
He said, "As I looked around the plane, I could see that nearly all the
passengers were upset and alarmed. Some were praying. The future seemed ominous
and many were wondering if they would make it through the storm.
And then, I suddenly saw a girl to whom the storm meant nothing. She had tucked
her feet beneath her as she sat on her seat and was reading a book. Everything
within her small world was calm and orderly. Sometimes she closed her eyes, then
she would read again; then she would straighten her legs, but worry and fear
were not in her world. When the plane was being buffeted by the terrible storm,
when it lurched this way and that, as it rose and fell with frightening
severity, when all the adults were scared half to death, that marvelous child
was completely composed and unafraid."
The minister could hardly believe his eyes.
It was not surprising therefore, that when the plane finally reached its
destination and all the passengers were hurrying to disembark, he lingered to
speak to the girl whom he had watched for such a long time.
Having commented about the storm and behavior of the plane, he asked why she had
not been afraid. The sweet child replied, "Sir, my Dad is the pilot, and he is
taking me home."
Author Unknown
I was watching a rerun of an episode of Babylon 5 in which it
seemed like the entire cause was lost. One of the characters said to another.
"We have no hope left." The other responded, "We have faith."
"But what hope do we have when all we have is faith?" The cynic asked.
And all the woman said was "Faith manages."
There is great truth in that statement. When all else fails in life, faith
manages. When you are down to your last resource, faith manages. When it seems
like your world is falling apart around you, faith manages. When everyone and
everything you hold dear is lost or has deserted you, faith manages. In the good
times, faith manages. In the hard times, faith manages. In the darkness of
night, faith manages. In the desert places, faith manages. On the mountain peak,
faith manages. In the valley, faith manages. When every human hope vanishes
away, faith manages.
What are you facing today? Fear, depression, weariness, financial problems,
marital distress, family problems, physical ailments, emotional distress? It
doesn't matter, what matters is that you have faith in God. He said he will
never leave you or forsake you. He said he would not allow you to face more than
you can bear. He said that he is a ready help in time of trouble. He said that
in the world you would have tribulation, but that he had overcome the world.
So, today, no matter what challenges life throws in your path, I'm here today to
tell you in no uncertain terms: if all you have is faith, that's enough because
when the darkness falls, FAITH MANAGES!
Author Unknown
Faith Is Everything
Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and
always has something positive to say. He even has scripture memorized! When
someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I
would have already been raptured!"
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was
there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
And give him a bible verse.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and
asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How
do you do it?" Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Mike,
you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can
choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Then I memorize a
bible verse.
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to
learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me
complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the
positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life. And then I
give them a bible verse.
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Michael, said.
"Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a
choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will
affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. And you choose
whether God is a part of your life or not. The bottom line: It's your choice how
you live life." I reflected on what Michael said.
Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost
touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of
reacting to it. And then I memorized a bible verse.
Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident,
falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and
weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed
in his back.
I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was,
he replied. "If I were any better, I would have already been raptured! Wanna see
my scars?" And he recited a bible verse.
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as
the accident took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was the well
being of my soon to be born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the
ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could
choose to die. I chose to live. Then all these bible verses came to mind and
comforted me.
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued,
"...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But
when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the
doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead
man.' I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. It was then I
recited the Lord's Prayer out loud for all to hear.
"Well, then there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael.
She asked if I was allergic to anything. "Yes, I replied." The doctors and
nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and
yelled, "Gravity." Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live and
my guardian angels are all around. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead".
Michael lived thanks to God, the angels, skill of his doctors and also because
of his determination and amazing faith. I learned from him that every day we
have the choice how we live.
Faith, after all, is everything!
Author Unknown