Faith...too much or too little?

[Amen!]

A while back I heard a radio broadcast discussion about GPS systems being placed in our children's shoes so that we could track our children if they came up missing or we just wanted to keep track of our children's activities. Many listeners called the program to express their interest and excitement in such an idea.

My first reaction to the discussion was to question whether or not such things undermine our faith in God. Don't get me wrong, I love my children so very much and would probably do ANYTHING to protect them, but honestly, if I am arming my children with such technology, am I not ultimately trusting in that technology more than I am trusting in God's power and will?

The same question can be asked of medical technology. If I were suffering from some terminal illness, would my instinct to save myself and my dependence on modern medicine and technology to minimize my suffering undermine my faith?

I understand that most will say "God provided this technology" and I agree. I am not proposing that anyone who takes advantage of this technology hasn't enough faith in God. I believe God grows our faith, and we are all at differing stages in our faith and wouldn't be condemned in any way for not having the ultimate degree of faith. But, oh, to have that depth of faith and experience God's pleasure because of it.

Paul, the apostle, during his first imprisonment praised God for his state, praying in his letters that God's will be done and not his own. Later, during his second imprisonment, he wasn't sure if he would be released to live another day or be persecuted unto death. Either way, it was okay with Paul because if he lived, he would continue in the work God had given him. If he was put to death, he would spend eternity with the Father. He rejoiced in either outcome because he trusted in the power and will of God.

Oh, to have THAT depth of faith!

Amen!

 

[Zulu]

Rev 13:16 The second beast forces all people-important and unimportant, rich and poor, free and slaves-to be marked on their right hands or on their foreheads,
Rev 13:17 so that no one may buy or sell unless he has the mark, which is the beast's name or the number of its name.

The above verses came to mind immediately when I read your article.

Then these verses came to mind:

Rev 13:14 It deceives those living on earth with the signs that it is allowed to do on behalf of the first beast, telling them to make an image for the beast who was wounded by a sword and yet lived.
Rev 13:15 The second beast was allowed to give breath to the image of the first beast so that the image of the beast could talk and put to death those who would not worship the image of the beast.

Me personally is very skeptical about any "tracing" devices or implants for that matter. As a way of thoughts isn't this all part to get the population use to being marked? Remember what Nero and Hitler did to start a super race? Ever heard of scalar warfare?

Just my thoughts

 

[ladylovesJesus]

Speaking from a personal viewpoint here. My daughter was believing in faith for her healing as she had been told various things by others and thought Jesus was going to do a miracle healing for her without the need for any more operations.

Her foot became so bad that she ended up with the ankle underneath the foot and was extremely painful and she was unable to wear her shoe. She has not been able to walk around outside for 16 years.

She had to ask for an operation which took a year or more to actually take place. Now she has a foot which she will be able to walk on again.

God used the surgeons skills to achieve this for her.

She prayed before the operation a wonderful prayer so positive and God answered it by healing her foot area and the scars are barely visible. She knows that she does not heal fast in the natural and is so aware that He did indeed give her a miracle recovery.

The point being that she had the faith to believe it would be done for her.

God bless :rainbow: :rose:

 

[Zulu]

Amen to that Sister. How is your daughter doing? She believed and that was the crux. I agree that the surgeon was used aswell. I was refering to implants of a "tracing" nature

 

[ladylovesJesus]

zulu you were doing your post as I was doing mine. I had only read amen's posting and was replying to the last comment

Oh, to have THAT depth of faith!

It just made me think of how after waiting so many years and nothing getting better she had to request the operation that she really never wanted to go through again.

How is your daughter doing?

Thank you for asking. She is still having pain since the removal of the plaster cast but I know that God is doing a continual healing for her there too. She is covered in a lot of prayer around the internet.

Praise God for internet prayer warriors.

God bless :rainbow: :rose:

 

[Zulu]

The Lord is GOOD all the time sister. I am happy that she is healing.

 

[Amen!]

Hi ladylovesJesus, thank you for responding in such a loving manner. I don't wish to seem argumentative. I'm simply seeking understanding.

My daughter was believing in faith for her healing as she had been told various things by others and thought Jesus was going to do a miracle healing for her without the need for any more operations.

God is not limited to modern medicine and technology to heal us. Neither is He limited to miracles for our healing. But honestly, was your daughter surrounded with people upholding her faith or was she surrounded with sympathizers who encouraged her to believe that it was okay with God to be healed by God through modern medicine?

Remember the OT story of Isaac and his son? Isaac was willing to do irreversible damage to his beloved son because his faith in God was pure and true. The angel of God didn't still Isaac's hand until a second before the point of no return. That's the depth of faith I speak of.

I am not attempting to put you or your daughter to shame concerning your faith. God knows, I probably wouldn't have lasted as long had I been in her situation. I go to the doctor when I'm ill. I've had my gall bladder removed because I couldn't bear the pain. My faith is not greater than yours. I don't mean to imply that. But to have the depth of faith to be willing to actually lose my foot, I mean LOSE it. Oh, to have THAT depth of faith. Is it possible in today's society?... especially American society?

Had your daughter lost her limb because of her faith, our society would have branded her as having a severe mental dysfunction. God, on the other hand, would have rewarded her with a crown. Who's to say she still won't be crowned because she held onto THAT depth of faith for such a long period of time.

I guess I should say, Oh, to have and maintain THAT depth of faith!


I am happy to hear your daughter is doing well, ladylovesJesus.

GBU
Amen!

Originally posted by Zulu:
As a way of thoughts isn't this all part to get the population use to being marked?

Zulu, that touches on my original reaction. For so long, I have been concerned with all the seemingly unimportant things that casually wear away our spirituality and erodes our faith. If we justify the little things, how do we defend against the bigger things? It reminds me of the Laodiceans, lukewarm in their faith and susceptible to deception.

To GPS systems in my children's shoes assisting me in finding my missing child, I WANT to say "no thank you, I'll lean on my faith in God. If He is willing to bring my child back to me with a GPS system, he is willing to bring him or her back to me without it as well", but society says "how can you chance losing your child? How do you know God isn't using that technology to do His work?".

What's that word for something that slowly sneaks in and eats away while the outside is totally unaware of what's going on inside until it's too late?

GBU, Zulu
Amen!

 

[Zulu]

Amen,
Who is society. Are society God's Word? Who do we care about mostly?
Deception comes in all sort of measures. If we have the courage and absolute fearless faith in our Lord then I don't see a problem with whatever you decide. What I don't see in your original post about your child, is whether he/she is mentally incapable, if that is the case then I think it might be a good choice to have him/her "tagged". I still DO NOT believe in this tagging administration. I have recieved a ID document and did so under complete duress, but I just had to get it. I don't know if I was right or wrong in my thinking. I can see where you are coming from and have the utmost respect for your concerns about your children.Sometimes we have to deal with things in our own way and that way is to ask the Lord for guidance.

take heed in the Lord Jesus

 

[monkeys]

Dear Amen,

I completely understand what you are saying. But I think we should also be wise in our decision.

I'll give you two examples of something that has happened to me

CASE 1: Okay - well, about 4 years ago, the doctor told me that I had an ovarian cyst. She said it wasn't too big, but if it didn't go away on its own they would have to operate. My mother was scared, as was I. I prayed about this for a while, and I believed God for my healing.

And then, I was healed! The cyst was completely gone when I went for a check up. God is so amazing!

CASE 2: I had been feeling very tired and a lack of energy about 2 years ago. I went to the doctor and she asked me to get some blood work done. The test results showed that I was anemic and that I had a problem with my thyroid. I got medication for both. I did a lot of research about this and then I stopped taking both medications. (which was not a wise choice).

When I went for a check up, about 1 year later, I had already stopped taking the medication for a while. The anemia was gone, by the thyroid problem was still there. The doctor told that I have to take the thyroid medication for life. She said that my thyroid will completely stop working eventually.

Now, I don't think my thyroid will ever stop working completely. But I know that God wants me to take this medication so I will function properly. So I am currently taking medication for my thyroid.

I know that you were not trying to be argumentative, but you were just laying some things on the table. I completely understand. I guess it is what we all feel in our hearts, what the Spirit tells us. There's so much more to say about this, but I will stop here!

About the tagging thing. I really don't like that at all. It remind me of how satan is trying to put his mark on us. There is also news about putting chips IN your children as well. They have already started with animals. It's a scary thought.

Thank you for posting this Sister. It's a "hot topic" (I guess you could say lol) to many people I know.


Many Blessings,
monkeys

 

[ladylovesJesus]

I am not attempting to put you or your daughter to shame concerning your faith. God knows, I probably wouldn't have lasted as long had I been in her situation. I go to the doctor when I'm ill. I've had my gall bladder removed because I couldn't bear the pain. My faith is not greater than yours. I don't mean to imply that. But to have the depth of faith to be willing to actually lose my foot, I mean LOSE it. Oh, to have THAT depth of faith. Is it possible in today's society?... especially American society?

Had your daughter lost her limb because of her faith, our society would have branded her as having a severe mental dysfunction. God, on the other hand, would have rewarded her with a crown. Who's to say she still won't be crowned because she held onto THAT depth of faith for such a long period of time.

Hello there sister amen

You do not know how near that possibility actually was. She was actually told that she ran the risk of actually losing her foot if she got an infection after the operation. At one point she thought it might actually be a better option. The surgeon however did not want to have to do that and she did agree to have the operation.. It was even cancelled twice, the second time she was there waiting to go down for the operation.

Funny how something that someone shares brings up memories of things that were spoken before but they are obligated to tell the patient of the risks.

Praise God for His perfect timing. I understand what you were saying too sister.

God bless :rainbow: :rose:

 

[Janette]

Trust God ... but tie up your camel.

I suspect the person who first spoke the non-biblical proverb in my subject line was wrestling with this very issue. On one side, we should have the faith that God will protect our camel if we ask Him to do so. But on the other side, we know that untied camels wander around and might be taken or get lost...which to do....?

--

There is no sin in doing as much as we understand can and should be done about a situation. We know how to tell if what we do is in accord with godly behavior or not, we just have to listen to the still small voice honestly.

There is sin in assuming that anything we do would be effective without God's sanction. Generally if you pray both before and during your involvement in a thing, you can avoid this trap.

---

A weak person would wait for God to heal them when surgery could and then lose faith for lack of a miracle healing. They would eventually just get the surgery as an act of separation from or defiance against a God they felt didn't exist or refused to help them.

How patient is God that He was willing to wait for this child to accept His help openly?


However, this child endured pain most of us can only imagine and maintained her faith. When the pain became more than she could bear, she turned first not to the doctors, but to the Lord to bless the doctors.

How merciful is God that when this child finally decided to just accept the help in the form it was offered, that the surgery was so successful?

That's faith. That's understanding that all of the abilities these doctors had come only from the Lord God. That's also understanding that by "demanding" that God heal her directly, she was taking a willful and domineering stance with respect to how the Lord would work within her -- and that is never allowed. This child had to learn to swallow her pride and accept the healing of God on His terms, and she was healed.

To suggest that this child wasn't healed in a more miraculous fashion because of lack of faith on her part is to denegrate both her faith as is, and the work of God upon her.

She asked to be healed, and she is healed.

To question any aspect of that healing now, knowing that she asked God to heal her, is to question how God decided to handle the situation.

We do not have the authority to do that.

---

In Matthew when the Devil and Jesus are conversing, the Devil suggests to Jesus that He could (or should) jump off a cliff and that He would be saved because He's...Jesus.

But Jesus refuses to jump and says that it is wrong to willfully tempt the Lord God.

Now obviously Jesus has the power to survive that jump, so that's not the issue. I also doubt that Jesus was lacking faith that He could survive.

The lesson here would seem to be that God expects mankind to obey what we understand of "natural" law and not bother Him to overcome it every time we want proof that He can.

Be wary of demanding miracles. For as surely as you can go into a temple and pray just so others see you praying and to appear pious, so too can you go into the streets and demand a miracle, hoping that you are seen receiving one.