"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1

By this time I'm expecting bad things to happen.  When I crossed the streets, I looked both ways, TWICE, just to make sure there weren't any cars coming. ;-) I always had plenty of taxi money in my pocket because I would probably need it. ;-) I bought a second set of clothes...you never know! ;-) I even took out a huge life insurance policy.  I figured I'd be dead soon and those frogs needed a place of their own! ;-)

As you might imagine, plague #6 rolled into my life like a violent storm.  In fact, it was a violent storm!

One afternoon I was at work and about the time my shift ended, a storm began to whip through town.  I waited, hoping it would pass, but it didn't.  Finally, after waiting for quite some time, I decided to venture out into it.

Pretty stupid, huh?

I got into my smoke flavored, flame broiled 1984 Dodge Daytona and headed for my apartment.  Now, this is really going to shock you here, but my car stalled.  Bet that caught you off guard, didn't it? ;-) So, I'm sitting here in my unusually unreliable car and things began to get ugly.  The wind began to really intensify.  I could almost feel the car moving as the wind beat against it.  The rain poured out of the sky by the gallon.  It was raining so hard that I couldn't see past the window of my car.  Lightning was striking all around me.  The thunder was deafening.  It was terrible.  Ever seen the movie "Twister?"  I was the car flying through the air! ;-)

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am scared of storms, particularly when I am in a metal object in the middle of one.  I was shaking like a leaf.  IT SEEMED LIKE AN ETERNITY as I sat there in the middle of that storm.

The rain got even harder (if that was possible), the wind stronger and  the lightning closer.  Then, God did something really strange.  God told me to get out of the car and run to my apartment, which was only about three blocks away at this point.  I thought, "Run home?!  Are you crazy?!  I'm in the middle of a tornado here.  God, don't you see what's happening here?  Maybe you've got me mixed up with someone else.  I'm staying put!"

Still, God continued to say, "run home."  I figured I was going to die anyway, so I might as well go out being obedient.  I opened the door and got out.  Then, nothing short of a Red Sea miracle happened.

Almost before my feet hit the ground, the rain began to stop.  The lightning was gone.  The thunder was off in the distance.  The wind was nothing more than a cool breeze. 

By the time I arrived at my apartment, the storm was gone!

Again, God was teaching me.  God was teaching me you cannot live the Christian life without faith.  God wants us to trust Him unconditionally.  He wants us to do what He says do, go where He says go and say what He says say.

You know, it doesn't take much faith to attend Sunday school.  It doesn't take much faith to go to church and sit on a pew.  It takes litle faith to sing a hymn.  There's nothing wrong with these things, but they don't require a lot of faith.

It does, however,  take faith to step out of our comfort zones into a raging storm.  It does take faith to leave our security and protection and go into the unknown.  Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  My translation?  "Faith is believing in the unbelievable." 

Faith is believing so much that God is going to take care of you, that you are willing to leave a safe car and step out into a tornado.  Faith is believing so much that God is going to give you the words to speak, that you open your mouth to minister the Gospel to some rude, antagonistic unbeliever.  Faith is believing so much that God is going to reward you, that you are willing to make sacrifices in your service to Him.  Faith is believing so much that God knows what He is doing, that you are willing to do something that makes absolutely no sense to you.

Faith is believing in the unbelievable.

The world says, "When I see it, I will believe it."  God says, "Believe it and you will see it."

How much faith do you have in Him today?

Have a "Wonderful DAY in Christ,"
Jimmy D. Brown
\o/ Praise Jesus!