Greetings in Christ, sisters!
I hope you are well and being diligent in the works of a godly woman.
Are you strong in faith today? A faith that leads us to trust and obey the Lord in a life of holiness?
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:"
Hebrews 10:22-24
Today I wanted to share some scriptures and thoughts on the simple childlike faith we are to have.
"At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me."
Matthew 18:1-5
We see there the importance of coming to God in humility as a child to be able to enter the kingdom.
I'm blessed to have two little ones in my life who I help look after at times. And it's so refreshing and precious to see things they do and what trust they have to believe what you tell them. And they rely on others to have their needs met just as we must look to the Lord for ours.
Goes along with this perhaps...
"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called :
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:"
1 Corinthians 1:26-28
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:"
1 Peter 5:6
And I found this interesting too. It's from a well known passage we women often refer to but there's always a different aspect to see.
"For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:"
1 Peter 3:5
The women who trusted in God adorned themselves with meekness and quietness, reverence and subjection to their own husbands. What a beautiful thing in a world of the sin of feminism. A godly woman submitting to her role, we know is of great price in the sight of God, her heavenly Father who she lives to please. She will be rewarded for her faithfulness in following God's place for her life. Again we see how quietness, like God using something humble and simple like a child, can as it says earlier in that scripture, win a husband without a word. Her holy life lived in obedience to the Lord can be powerful. The world would call a loud, pushy and independent woman strong but God uses the opposite for His purposes. In that a quiet and submissive godly woman is strong in what matters.
We can see some examples in scripture of those who had this faith and those that may not have. We can be grateful to learn from others and so be warned to not repeat the same things ourselves. It is edifying and encouraging to see those who pressed on in faith trusting in the Lord despite the impossibility or difficulty of the things they faced. You can just read Hebrews 11 for encouragement in that.
What would you do if you were Sarah?
"And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
Is any thing too hard for the Lord ? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh."
Genesis 18:9-15
But she also had faith and the Lord blessed her.
"Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised."
Hebrews 11:11
We too can trust and not doubt what God has told us in His Word.
Think of the great faith of Abraham...
"Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."
Romans 4:18-22
We too can trust in the Lord's many promises for His children.
We can also think of Job and all he went through, yet he had this great trust in God...
And I think of Mary too. She had childlike faith in the astonishing promise the angel told her.
"And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."
Luke 1:38
And we can see what happened to Zacharias when John was promised to him.
"And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season."
Luke 1:18-20
We can learn many things from and be encouraged by the faith of others recorded in scripture. And we must trust in the Lord not always knowing why we have to go through things in this life.
"My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord ; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth."
Proverbs 3:11-12
"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tied with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"
1 Peter 1:7
Faith is indeed an important part of our lives. May we sisters trust our Lord with a childlike simple faith. We live in such a cold and faithless world yet we can, just as those who have gone before us, strive on and overcome in His strength. We don't know what He is doing sometimes but we can be confident in Him.
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Romans 8:28
And indeed we are not our own, so may His will be done in our lives and may we humbly submit to it.
Amen.
Lord willing I shall be back here tomorrow to share more encouragement and edification from the Word for us sisters.
Love in Christ,
...from one of God's children
See the biblical gospel here.