Three: Faithfulness

God has pressed the idea of faith on my heart this last school year. While giving up old friends, trying to make new ones, signing on for a mision trip, and surrendering my passions to Christ, I have been asked to have faith. What is faith? What determines if I have it? Do faith and fear come hand in hand?

(Mark 11:22-24) 22"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

When I went to Colorado Springs for my summer missions orientation, I had a little chat with God. Well, it was more like a little freak out. I said to Him, "That's it, I'm not going on this trip unless You can show me, God, that I will get the money for it. I'm giving up unless You show me how faithful you are." And he showed me that verse in response. "Sure God," I thought.

The next day I had to take a 20 minute flight from Colorado Springs into Denver. Before my friends left on their flights, I told them about my talk with God the night before and about how I wasn't sure this mission thing was for me. They reassured me that God would answer my prayer and they went on their ways. I tried to get on an earlier plane and ended up getting on the 2nd standby flight. God had something in store for me. There was one seat left for me on the plane (as my drum had to take the seat in the front row), and I moved back to the 8th row, next to a nice gentleman named Blair Sawyer. Blair and I started talking about what we were doing in Colorado Springs, and after a few minutes we ended up sharing life stories and our testimonies with one another. Turns out that all 3 of his children went to Wheaton College (where my boyfriend goes to school, and I happened to be flying there the next week!). By the time the flight was ending, he told me about how he realized in college that he wasn't very good at going on missions...so he funds missionaries (currently, five of them!). He pulled out his business card, wrote his address on the back, and told me that he wanted to help fund my trip.

Within 24 hours, God had answered my prayer. His faithfulness is something He has been revealing to me all year. I'm still a little nervous and am in great need of funding for my trip. So...the prayers and phone calls will continue! And I hope to keep seeing God's love and grace through all of this.