vanessa
May 12, 2008 - When Our Faith Wavers - James 1:1-8
Welcome to the In Touch Devotional.
The Bible warns against "wavering faith." This is the attitude of someone who goes from feeling certain that God will answer a prayer to merely hoping that He might or becoming convinced He won't. Of course, since we're human, we all experience periods of doubt. But what Scripture warns against is a lifestyle of spiritual disbelief.
Wavering can have many causes. For instance, one might fail to see God at work in a situation. Or he might worry that trusting Jesus in that predicament conflicts with human reasoning. Another believer, focusing on circumstances rather than the Lord, may allow feelings to overcome faith.
A person, who is "driven and tossed by the wind", may lose confidence in God and find his spiritual growth stunted. He can become a "double-minded man" because even as he prays, he tends to jump ahead of the Lord's timing to manipulate a situation for his own desired outcome. When a Christian pays attention to his doubts in this way, he'll often make costly, wrong decisions. After all the maneuvering, he will frequently end up dissatisfied with the results and bothered by his lack of peace. Even worse, his faith may diminish.
Wavering is dangerous, so believers must develop confidence in the Lord. In Mark 11:24, Jesus says, "All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you." The closest we get to perfect faith while on earth is the ability to trust that what we ask in God's will is as good as done.
Saturday: we learnt that vanessa had to go through a second operation on friday night to remove even more of her skull to allow room for her brain to swell. zelia and i got a lift from aunty sue to the hospital to see vanessa. we managed to enterthe ICU to see her. really thank God for that. we were able to stand by her bed and pray for her. her condition was so bad, the doctors said. her chances of waking up from coma are slim.
should i say how it was to walk up to her bed? we were told to go to bed 15. zelia and i needed to turn back to check the bed number because we couldn't recognise vanessa. nobody had prepared us mentally for what we saw. it was as if everything around me slowed down as i let the reality of what i saw before me sink in. zelia had wanted to cry. van looked so fragile i didn't dare to lay my hands on her to pray, only lightly gently brushed my hand over her blanket. the doctor told us that he wasn't sure how much of her sleep was due to the sedatory drugs they were giving her and how much was due to the brain damage. her chances of waking up were 50/50. we also learnt that when they tested her for reaction, there was no response.
sunday: her condition had not improved. her brain was still swelling. many people back home in singapore were still praying hard.
today, every single tutorial and lecture, students were told that vanessa was very sick and that the hospital had restriced the visitors to only family.
a short while ago, uncle bruce came in to do his random rounds to check on us again. this time, he carried with him news on vanessa's condition. she was improving! they tested her for reaction and her pupils dialated a little. her finger responded to a prick. her brain had finally stopped swelling. blood was flowing through normally.
HOW AWESOME IS THAT!
HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!
i'm still waiting for an even greater miracle from my faithful, loving, gracious Father in heaven. Be glorified.
Welcome to the In Touch Devotional.
The Bible warns against "wavering faith." This is the attitude of someone who goes from feeling certain that God will answer a prayer to merely hoping that He might or becoming convinced He won't. Of course, since we're human, we all experience periods of doubt. But what Scripture warns against is a lifestyle of spiritual disbelief.
Wavering can have many causes. For instance, one might fail to see God at work in a situation. Or he might worry that trusting Jesus in that predicament conflicts with human reasoning. Another believer, focusing on circumstances rather than the Lord, may allow feelings to overcome faith.
A person, who is "driven and tossed by the wind", may lose confidence in God and find his spiritual growth stunted. He can become a "double-minded man" because even as he prays, he tends to jump ahead of the Lord's timing to manipulate a situation for his own desired outcome. When a Christian pays attention to his doubts in this way, he'll often make costly, wrong decisions. After all the maneuvering, he will frequently end up dissatisfied with the results and bothered by his lack of peace. Even worse, his faith may diminish.
Wavering is dangerous, so believers must develop confidence in the Lord. In Mark 11:24, Jesus says, "All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you." The closest we get to perfect faith while on earth is the ability to trust that what we ask in God's will is as good as done.
Saturday: we learnt that vanessa had to go through a second operation on friday night to remove even more of her skull to allow room for her brain to swell. zelia and i got a lift from aunty sue to the hospital to see vanessa. we managed to enterthe ICU to see her. really thank God for that. we were able to stand by her bed and pray for her. her condition was so bad, the doctors said. her chances of waking up from coma are slim.
should i say how it was to walk up to her bed? we were told to go to bed 15. zelia and i needed to turn back to check the bed number because we couldn't recognise vanessa. nobody had prepared us mentally for what we saw. it was as if everything around me slowed down as i let the reality of what i saw before me sink in. zelia had wanted to cry. van looked so fragile i didn't dare to lay my hands on her to pray, only lightly gently brushed my hand over her blanket. the doctor told us that he wasn't sure how much of her sleep was due to the sedatory drugs they were giving her and how much was due to the brain damage. her chances of waking up were 50/50. we also learnt that when they tested her for reaction, there was no response.
sunday: her condition had not improved. her brain was still swelling. many people back home in singapore were still praying hard.
today, every single tutorial and lecture, students were told that vanessa was very sick and that the hospital had restriced the visitors to only family.
a short while ago, uncle bruce came in to do his random rounds to check on us again. this time, he carried with him news on vanessa's condition. she was improving! they tested her for reaction and her pupils dialated a little. her finger responded to a prick. her brain had finally stopped swelling. blood was flowing through normally.
HOW AWESOME IS THAT!
HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!
i'm still waiting for an even greater miracle from my faithful, loving, gracious Father in heaven. Be glorified.
posted by elisa @ 10:40 PM
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