God is Bigger Than Your 'But...'

"I wish I could _____________ for Jesus, but ______________"

Go ahead... fill in the blanks.

I'll wait. 

I know you can. You know you can. We all can. We all have filled in the blanks before - in conversation with others. With ourselves. With God.

I wish I could...

          be more bold 

                  do more outreach

                            give more time

                                      minister to those in need

                                                 talk to my neighbor about salvation

                                                            

But...

          I'm too shy

                  I don't know how

                              I'm just too darn busy

                                      I don't have what it takes

                                                I don't know what I should say

I know those are the things you've probably said before, because I've said them too. All Christians have. It's inevitable.

Once we give our lives over to Christ, He will begin to stir our hearts into service on His behalf. After all, the Bible says that we are created by Him, and for Him - unto His good works. (Eph. 2:10).  That's what we're here for - to experience His grace and salvation, yes. But, we are also supposed to help others experience them as well. God's got the best retirement plan in the universe, but He really, really wants you to show up and do the job He's given you before you get there.

And, our flesh, conditioning, and will aren't going to like that. They don't want to take orders. They don't want to do the same things that He wants them to do. So, they help us make up excuses. And, for some reason, we believe them.

We believe that our personality, or lifestyle, or circumstances are somehow enough to excuse us from doing the things God put us here to do.

In short, we make our 'but...' bigger than God.

I promise you - you are not so fundamentally flawed, incapable, and ineffective that God can't/won't/doesn't want to use you. That would mean that your weaknesses (whatever it is you believe them to be) are more than the Almighty can overcome.

[Your worst failings sound kinda insignificant when you hear it put that way, don't they?]

I invite you today to stop doing what's comfortable, and step out in faith to do what He asks you to do instead. You just might be surprised how mightily He shows up in your life, and what a joy it is to work your 'but...' off on His behalf!

Like what you've read? Want to learn more? Check out our website, or go here to make a tax-deductible contribution to our ministry. (Select 'Farrier' from the pulldown menu.)

                                                      

What's in a Name?

When we first started our ministry (we giggle everytime we say that, because we can’t believe God would call us to ministry) we were just Mark and Andrea.  It was actually difficult to pick a name.  You have to have a good name - something that is steady. Not cheesy, but also not too serious.  We wanted it personal, and not vague.  We also wanted to have something we could grow in. Some ministry names seem outdated after a while, especially if it was part of a specific revival movement.  We wanted something that inspired even us.

What we came up with was ‘Farriers of Faith’.

We go to Fellowship of Faith Christian Center, but I had not realized how close our name sounded to theirs until after we had actually agreed on it.  There was some debate on this matter.  Many weeks of debate, actually.  Andrea wanted something with ‘world’ in it.  She loves the scripture ‘…go into all the world…’  I felt it was vague, and for now we are going to just Guatemala. I mean, let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

I felt Farriers of Faith was the best, because it was the only name we came up with that spoke to me.  After a while Andrea agreed that it was a good fit, and that was how we got our name.

The thing I want to focus on in describing how we feel about it is the faith part.  Faith, to me, was a really important part that I wanted in the name.  Webster defines faith as, "something that is believed, especially with strong conviction."

Andrea and I believe we are called to go to Guatemala, to help people, and to give them the gospel.  We believe this, and are strongly convicted.  We believe it to the point that when people say, "I don’t understand..." we often find ourselves saying, "Wee don’t either, but we have to go."

We have faith that we are called.  We have faith that since we are called, God will take care of all of our needs.  We have faith that since we are following the call, God will not waste a minute of our lives.

Faith has changed for Andrea and me in the last few months.  Faith feels so different when I have a good job, a full stomach, a great family and friends.  As we are giving some of these things up, faith is changing in my life.  Relying on others to see our vision and that the Lord will lead them to support us in our calling - that is a different kind of Faith.

The enormity of what we are about to do is settling in.  Faith is changing because I have heard the calling. I know that He is enough.  Sometimes fear tries to come in, but I hold on to God's promises, and choose to have faith. He has led me this far, and I know He won’t let me down.

(Like what you've read? Want to learn more? Check out our website, or go here to make a tax-deductible contribution to our ministry. (Select 'Farrier' from the pulldown menu.)