Tag: faith

By Pastor Andrew Farland

Back in 2001, I was sitting by a pond.

While I was sitting there, I noticed part of it was frozen over. Then I saw a bunch of ducks playing in this little part of the ice that was broken up. It was freezing, but the ducks were playing in the water like kids in a pool – flapping, splashing, and playing. To the side was a bunch of ducks lined up waiting for their turn to get in the water, even though there was plenty of room for all of the ducks to join the fun.

That’s when I felt God speak to me.

He said, “Andrew, I’m giving you permission to step out, to always give permission to my people to step out.”

I thought back to the pond and the ducks. It was such an interesting metaphor. The water was there, and all the ducks could have played at once. There was plenty of room for everyone, but they were sidelined. They waited for the others to jump in.

That’s when I remembered this verse from Genesis 24:27:

“Being on the way, the Lord led me.”

So often we never get on our way. We wait for a sign. We hope the clouds will part. It’s like waiting with our phone for a text message from God. DING! Move your right foot, says the text. Fifteen minutes later, there’s another DING! Now move your left foot.

Sometimes we think God has to show us every single step of the way. That He has to direct every footstep. There’s no relationship, no growth, no character development in that.

God didn’t create robots. Instead, He gave us free will.

He allows us – and even encourages us — to step out. Jump in. Make the first move.

You may remember when Abraham’s servant was looking for a wife for Isaac. His many requirements for a life partner held him back from getting what he was seeking. They obstructed him from achieving his goals.

In our own journeys, we too become spiritually constipated by sitting there, not practicing our faith and not moving forward. We are like a parked car, and it’s hard to steer a parked car in any direction.

Take your first steps today. Start moving toward something.

Don’t worry about the direction.

Let God course-correct you. Just as a GPS reroutes you if you take a wrong turn, so will God. Let God reroute you. A GPS isn’t much good if your car is permanently in park, and God won’t guide your path if you refuse to step forward. You have to take that first step.

Today, take that action step. Step out. Do something different, something unfamiliar, something a bit scary.

The important thing is that you get going.

Remember that being on the way, the Lord led me.

Get your feet moving and then expect God to show you the direction He wants you to go. Once you start, He’ll lead your way.

Proverbs 16: 9
32 In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

Every really great question needs an equally great answer. The challenge lies in figuring out how to ask the right questions, whether you need information or are studying God’s word.

My pastor once told us that the key to good Bible study and getting something out of God’s word is asking the right questions.

You’ll have the best Bible study if you ask the right questions.

The same thing is true with God’s voice. When you are studying God’s word, you must ask the right questions. In fact, if you want to hear God’s answer, you must ask specific questions.

Lately, I’ve been going back to a technique that’s worked well for me before. I ask God intentionally specific questions so that I get equally specific answers. I know He will answer my questions because He tells us to knock on His door, seek Him out, and ask for what we need.

God wants you to find Him.

The problem is that we don’t ask specific enough questions. We ask vague questions, expecting nothing more than a vague response, or maybe no response at all. We’re afraid of the silence. We’re afraid that God won’t answer us. But if you ask a specific question, you will get a specific answer.

Just today I was just processing something I have to do tomorrow. I took ten minutes to pray, silencing my heart and waiting for God’s response. It wasn’t long before I got a specific answer. God’s answer comes as an aha moment, and it’s always clear. He has a specific answer for my specific question.

I encourage you to ask specific questions rather than general ones because the latter will get you a general answer.

Sometimes we’re afraid to step out in faith and ask for that special answer.

Do it anyway, and you’ll sense God’s grace. You’ll see him answer your questions because you asked the right kind of questions – specific ones. You’ll get certainty in your heart and have a sense that God is there.

God does want to answer your questions. His answers will help you become confident in your prayer life. Special answers challenge your faith and encourage you to step out more boldly in your faith as well.

Matthew7: 7-8
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

Every really great question needs an equally great answer. The challenge lies in figuring out how to ask the right questions, whether you need information or are studying God’s word.

My pastor once told us that the key to good Bible study and getting something out of God’s word is asking the right questions.

You’ll have the best Bible study if you ask the right questions.

The same thing is true with God’s voice. When you are studying God’s word, you must ask the right questions. In fact, if you want to hear God’s answer, you must ask specific questions.

Lately, I’ve been going back to a technique that’s worked well for me before. I ask God intentionally specific questions so that I get equally specific answers. I know He will answer my questions because He tells us to knock on His door, seek Him out, and ask for what we need.

God wants you to find Him.

The problem is that we don’t ask specific enough questions. We ask vague questions, expecting nothing more than a vague response, or maybe no response at all. We’re afraid of the silence. We’re afraid that God won’t answer us. But if you ask a specific question, you will get a specific answer.

Just today I was just processing something I have to do tomorrow. I took ten minutes to pray, silencing my heart and waiting for God’s response. It wasn’t long before I got a specific answer. God’s answer comes as an aha moment, and it’s always clear. He has a specific answer for my specific question.

I encourage you to ask specific questions rather than general ones because the latter will get you a general answer.

Sometimes we’re afraid to step out in faith and ask for that special answer.

Do it anyway, and you’ll sense God’s grace. You’ll see him answer your questions because you asked the right kind of questions – specific ones. You’ll get certainty in your heart and have a sense that God is there.

God does want to answer your questions. His answers will help you become confident in your prayer life. Special answers challenge your faith and encourage you to step out more boldly in your faith as well.

Matthew 7:7-8
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

We don’t draw closer to Christ when everything is going well.

That’s too easy.

We draw closer to Christ when things are complicated and seemingly impossible.

There’s a peculiar dichotomy that happens in seasons of trial. It’s the most beautiful time in your life. In the times of greatest tribulation and uncertainty, you are the most connected to Christ. You’re the most dependent on Him. You’re learning and growing, and you are receiving God’s love more than any other time.

When you find yourself in a storm, you are in a place where you can’t do it on your own anymore, and you need God more than ever.

The key here is that a season of trial and tribulation can do for you what a season of ease cannot do.

Seasons of trial develop character. They help you grow in empathy, and they give you deeper compassion for others. God uses these times to develop a ministry inside you so that you can help other people who suffer what you’re experiencing.

Trials force you to have a deeper life in Christ, one that’s rooted soundly in Him.

What happens to you is similar to the growth of a palm tree.

When the wind blows against the palm tree, it neither breaks nor uproots. The gales force the tree to dig deeper and push its roots far into the ground. The tree entrenches itself in a strong foundation of permanence.

Something similar happens during the most difficult seasons of your life.

When you face hurricanes in your life, your roots in Christ deepen. Difficulty sends the roots deeper into the soil. With Christ, you will bend but never break.

Easy times don’t do you much good for growth. You’ll never grow and never achieve resilience.

The seasons of difficulty and trial take us to a dark place in our lives, much like having to pass through a tunnel. The good thing is that we’re never alone in these dark moments. We realize God isn’t only at the end of the tunnel. He’s right there in the midst of it with us.

We cry out for God in the darkness, and we ask for His saving power. That’s when we see Him come through for us. Real faith and spiritual endurance grow when the storm hits and the sky is at its darkest.

It’s weird is that when you emerge from the storm, and you leave the dark and hard season behind you, you’ll feel like something is missing. You miss the intimacy and the close relationship with God. God came through for you. During your tribulation, He revealed himself to you.

Now, when everything is easy once again, you forget to pray to God. You forget that God is all-powerful because you think you can do it on your own. You let the close bonds slip a bit.

How beautiful to go through this tough season with God. Seek God and receive His blessings. See Him come through for you and with you over and over. His presence produces unshakeable hope.

God tells us in Romans 5: 3-5 that perseverance produces hope.

3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

If you need real unshakable hope in your life, you must go through the storm, the blessed storm. Most people want to cast away the wind and the rain, escaping the unpleasant times. You need the hard times to grow, get rooted, and trust in God.

You’ll want to get through the difficult periods in your life as quickly as possible, but you’ll also miss them. It’s like raising kids.

Raising two- and three-year-olds isn’t an easy job. You want your kids to grow up fast because you’d like to experience a full night’s sleep once again. You want to be able to touch a surface in your house that isn’t sticky, and wouldn’t it be great if you could go one whole month without anyone getting a runny nose or a fever?

Yet, when your kids grow up and move out of the house, you miss them so much. You realize the difficult years were among the most beautiful times in your life.

Don’t curse the difficult times.

Those difficult times in your life are pure joy. Welcome them by changing your perspective to see seasons of trial as an opportunity rather than a challenge. They make you stronger emotionally, spiritually, and in your relationship with God.

If you are to experience suffering and God’s glory, be willing to open your heart to whatever God wants to give you. The Lord gives and takes away. Like Job says, “Blessed be the name of the Lord. Naked I came and naked I will go.”

God blesses you in every season, but you’re even more blessed in difficult seasons because you’re growing and maturing. Continue to push your roots deeply into the foundation that is Christ.

Colossians 2: 6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Be encouraged today because God is with you.