James 2:14-17
Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Several of my friends are actively serving as foster parents. One of the hardest parts of being a foster parent is the moment when you have to give the child who has been placed in your care to someone else. Whether the courts say the child must return to his/her own parent(s) or must be placed with another family… whether you know this is a good and proper step or you have reservations... letting go is hard. There is that moment when you feel like you can’t breathe, a lump the size of a grapefruit forms in your throat, and you are genuinely frightened that you might pass out. You are telling the child – and yourself – that “this will be okay,” and all the while, you are trying to convince yourself it really will be. I honestly do not know how foster families do this… some of them over and again through the years with countless children. The physical and emotional toll it takes on them must be huge… matched only by their faith.
I have to believe that the way these parents do what they do is by living their faith. They ask God to work out these situations according to His will – then trust Him to do exactly this. While the child is in their care, they faithfully trust God to equip them for the challenges that surely come. They pray for strength and courage when the child moves to another home… for themselves and for the child. But as importantly, they live each day with joy and confidence that God truly IS doing what He promised… that He really DOES have the situation under control and will meet the individual needs of all concerned, once this transition occurs.
A lot of us have a huge problem in this area. We say we believe in God. We ask Him for help with all kinds of thing. But we want to meddle. We say, “I know God is doing this for me, but I just can’t help worrying.” Or, we say conversely, “I asked God to handle this for me, so I don’t have to worry about it again” – as in “I asked God to take care of the homeless lady I met the other day,” and then we totally walk away and forget about her.
Here’s the deal… there are times when we need to faithfully give our burdens and concerns to God and walk in confidence that He will handle them for us. But we must also ask God to show us if/when there is anything we need to be doing to help Him – or in His name! Sometimes, all God wants us to do is to trust Him for an outcome. Sometimes, He expects us to get our hands dirty. So while God gives foster parents PLENTY to do for Him when they are caring for needy children, He expects them to trust HIM to handle things when the children are no longer in their care.
It’s a little like when we greet someone at Wal-Mart and say, “Hi! How are you doing?” as we whiz past them! We don’t really want to know how this person is. We don’t have time to get involved… to hear that there might be problems in this person’s life… or even to hear their good news! But we ask anyway and feel so good about our kind, friendly attitude. We pat ourselves on the back as a “good Christian.” And this is the problem. In terms of our Christian faith… we can’t ask and not expect to wait on the answer. All talk and no action is not true Christian faith.
We can’t expect God to meet our needs without doing our part. We can’t say we have faith and confidence in God and then walk around acting like someone just stepped on our big toe! And we can’t talk a good game and give God lip service… then sit back and expect others to be the real servants. We have to be willing to get up and get going when God calls us… and to sit still and be calm when He tells us, “I’ve got this!”
Take a good look at yourself. Do others see a person of true Christian faith when they look at you? Or do they see someone who talks big but has little to show for it? Do you really care how the other guy is doing… or are you counting on someone else to stop and hear what he/she has to say? When you feel God telling you that He has a situation under control, do you trust Him and act with confidence that He is plenty capable to handle this for you? Do you not only “talk the talk” but also “walk the walk?” Do you really have Christian faith… or do you merely talk about it? Isn’t it time to spend some time with God and get this right?
©2012 Debbie Robus
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