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Guest Post: Much Becoming Little and Little Becoming Much

10.22.2018 by Jennifer Howe //

Hello friend, I (Jennifer) am excited to introduce you to one of my dear friends, a beautiful thinker and writer of Bible studies with her team, Woven. (See their site here.) Please welcome Beth Whartnaby to our little corner of the Internet. The FACETS believe you will love knowing her and reading her thoughts on God multiplying little into much. How has God multiplied your little into much? (Guest)

This is a story about much becoming little, and little becoming much.

Eight years ago I moved my elderly parents, who were suffering from chronic physical and mental health issues, from the Gulf coast of Alabama to my hometown in Illinois. My mom and dad had reached the stage where they needed assistance. They were clearly failing, and as their only daughter, I was ready and willing to help. The prospect of having them near us for the first time in our married life excited me as I anticipated sweet times together as a family. I was eager to assume the caretaker role.

Looking back, I realize that I was full of much. I was chock-full of energy, enthusiasm, ideas, and plans, bursting with knowledge and creativity, ready to dedicate my time. I was determined to make a lovely little home for them in their tiny new apartment, find all the right specialists to treat their medical needs, make sense of all their insurance questions, diligently drive them to all their appointments, and warmly include them in family gatherings, making the little time I believed we would have together into much.

God beautifully positioned me to obey the fifth commandment, “Honor your father and mother,” in a very hands on way—and I was determined to do it. But I forgot where the strength and power to fulfill this mandate comes from.

After a few years of caring for my parents I found myself scraping up the dregs from my bucket of much. My own physical and emotional health began to suffer, and it was all I could do to walk into their building each day. My feet felt like lead and my heart broke at our combined need—I was burned out. It was then I realized that what I thought was much, was actually little. I had gone from feeling like I had much to feeling like I needed much, when all I really needed was one thing: God’s powerful grace.

Each time he [God] said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me … For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10b NLT

The funny thing about God’s grace is you have to let God fill you with it to experience the power. You have to acknowledge your weakness, surrender control, and offer your empty bucket to God so He can fill it.

For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].  John 1:16 AMP

I realize now that if I had just surrendered my little to God in the beginning and allowed Him to be strong in my weakness, I would have started out with much! But I didn’t. It took hitting the wall of my own resources for me to actually live what I know: “When I am weak, then I am strong.” When I have little and I put it in the hands of Jesus and leave it there, trusting Him to work on my behalf then I have much.

Doing what God calls us to do is the first thing. Doing what He calls us to do in His strength and not our own is the only way the first thing is possible. Humanly, we all have little. Only God, in His wondrous grace, by the power of His Holy Spirit, can turn our little into a harvest of much. Surrendering everything to God is like handing Him our bucket, the one we think is filled with so much. Suddenly we are overwhelmed when we realize it is now bottomless. Imagine the awe of the boy with only five small barley loaves and two small fish watching thousands feast on his meager lunch (John 6:1-13)!

So how do we live in this power and grace that transforms our little into much? We dwell with Jesus minute by minute, relying on the Holy Spirit to influence our decisions and to infuse us with all we need to follow through. We cultivate a life centered on God’s Word and prayer, growing into a deep abiding with God that makes Him our first and best thought each day, our “go-to” every minute, and our source of rest and peace each night. There is a sweet discipline involved in living in God’s power and grace, an effort on our part, that pays off exponentially. As we surrender our life completely to God, the gift we get in return is “infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

By God’s grace my parents are still with us, battling daily against the challenges of being in their 90s. We have navigated countless doctors’ appointments, many hospitalizations, and our fair share of emergencies. We have argued and agreed, negotiated and surrendered, laughed and cried. The burdens that many would consider much are, in the scheme of things, really little. The little I had to offer, by God’s grace has yielded a harvest of much.

Is there much in your life that God is waiting for you to realize is really little? When you see it, surrender it, and by the power of His amazing grace, He will turn it into much.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:20-21 NLT

Signature: Beth Whartnaby

Categories // Faith, Guest Perspectives, Turning Little into Much Tags // Aging parents, Caretaking, Facets of Faith, Faith, God's strength, Grace, Trust

Jesus’ Multiplication: Seed of Dependence or a “Muster Seed”

10.09.2018 by Jennifer Howe //

This month the FACETS are answering this question: How has God turned your little into much? It’s all about Jesus’ multiplication. What a perfect topic for the harvest season, eh? Check out Tracy’s post here. Kim will share next week, and then we have a beautiful guest we want you to meet. Visit us on Tuesdays to read new posts.How has God multiplied your little into much? (J. Howe)

Welcome to fall, friend! I (Jennifer) live in the midwest, and the harvests are in. The fields are down, cornucopia decorations are in displays, and piles of pumpkins dominate grocery stores and veggie stands. I don’t dislike everything about the “boo fest” in October, it’s just that I’m fueled by my favorite things in autumn: all things apple, golden pre-harvest fields, colorful leaves, November, and a meaningful Thanksgiving.

The season reminds me God not only makes a crop possible but also multiplies the harvest. Soon I’m recounting the stories that reveal God’s multiplication table (often at the table). Then I ask how those stories relate to mine.

What’s my personal harvest story? Dependence.

A Jesus moment catches my eye. A little background—

Greeks (non-Jews) have come to see Jesus and hope Philip will introduce them. We can’t be sure the introduction takes place; the text doesn’t say. (I like to think it did.) We might assume it was a brow-raising moment, considering rabbis rarely mixed in the Gentile world. Jesus was different.

Then it’s immediately a prophetic moment. The Messiah predicts the crucifixion, though the majority of listeners have no idea.

Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop. John 12:23-24 CSB

More eyebrows jump? Jesus turns attention to the potential in a tiny seed. Seeds were important in the Jewish agrarian culture. For a plant to grow a seed must die, and the crowd knew it. Then a seed has incredible mathematic potential. Whole crops are hidden in a single seed. He knew billions of seeds and a beautiful, large harvest would come from the sacrifice of His life. But He continues.

The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:25

The seed that dies and yields a harvest is inextricably linked to one who “hates his life in this world.” (That’s dependence!) Today the follower of Jesus knows the sacrifice He made and the harvest of followers that came. We know He died to make a way for all of us to be in beautiful, eternal relationship with the Father. We have eternal life with God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. (And that’s dependence!)

What’s most important to me is the little faith I began with. I knew placing trust in Jesus was the beginning. Trusting Jesus with all of life is ultimate dependence. As much as I’d like to say I instantly trusted Him with everything, every decision, every hard moment—I can’t. Ease and perfection didn’t come from a single moment. I had moments that were more like a “muster seed” in my own strength. No, it was a tiny step. I leaned into dependence just a little bit. And then a little more. Twenty-odd years later, it’s still a million little decisions I want to make each day. God multiplies my little faithful dependence into much. Sometimes it’s depending on Him more often, or in the bigger things, and in more of the little things. Little things can be as hard or harder than the big things, if I’m honest. It’s tempting to “get ‘er done” in my own way.

The next verse is beautiful. And challenging.

If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant also will be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. John 12:26

This is where dependence really shows. I can’t muster a thing on my own, really. A Jesus-dependent faith life looks like the life He lived. It’s a life of seeing and serving others and thinking of them more than your own self. It’s a life that serves Jesus because it serves others. My little dependent moment is a tiny faith step God transforms. A small thing becomes more loving, more frequent, and more—Jesus-like! I’m far from perfect (ask my family), but I’m growing. If you see anything of the dependent life, you know it’s really not me, right? It’s God doing a thing in my life, finishing the work He started, and I’m just revealing a little of that. *wink*

Thanks for reading, friend. The FACETS love to hear from you. What are some of your favorite fall things? Share your thoughts on God’s multiplication in your life here or at the Facebook Page. How has God turned your little into much?

Signature, Jennifer Howe

Categories // Faith, Jennifer Howe's Perspective, Turning Little into Much Tags // Dependence, Facets of Faith, Faith, God's Multiplication, Harvest, Jennifer J Howe, John 12:23-26, The Jesus Life

Yesterday, Today, and a Thousand Miles Away

09.21.2018 by Kim Findlay //

This month at Facets of Faith we’re taking a look at where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going. You know, lessons life has taught us. Tracy and Jen have already shared. Be sure to check theirs out by clicking on their names! Now it’s my (Kim) turn.

IMAGE: Life Lessons, Kim Findlay, green.

Where’s Here?

Have you ever asked yourself, how did I get here? Maybe not so much the physical location as much as the season of life. The details.

Maybe you were one of the kids who dreamed someday you’d grow up to  ______ (fill in the blank). As you look at your life today, you wonder what happened before. Now that life isn’t good, perhaps it isn’t what you expected or what you planned.

I’m writing these words at home seated at my desk, a treasured gift from a lifetime ago. My mom bought this beautiful piece for me after fire destroyed my home over thirteen years ago. 

I dreamed about writing words of hope and encouragement sitting at this desk, of obeying the call of Scripture to be one of the redeemed telling her story (Psalm 107:2). Of penning stories to let the world know what He had done.

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.” Psalm 105:1

What I never expected was for my desk to reside anywhere other than in Illinois. Yet here we sit, my desk and I, nestled together in a town just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, a thousand miles from familiar.

Looking Back

Two years ago I visited my daughter and her husband in Connecticut. On a whim we decided to drive up to Concord, Massachusetts and visit Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott. We strolled the grounds and absorbed its history. We meandered down a bit and stumbled upon The Old Manse where the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired and less than a century later Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau spawned a revolution in American philosophy.

A thought snuck in as we walked . . .how neat it would be to live near such history. Inwardly, I gasped. What was I thinking? I had just remarried and we lived in a great house at a great location. Life was settling after years of sorrow and struggles. Not only that, but my youngest daughter’s grave was in Illinois. Surely God wouldn’t ask me to move away, not after all that happened when fire not only destroyed my home, but ended my girl’s sweet life on earth. Surely there was a limit to what He would ask of me.

We think that sometimes though, don’t we? Holding the broken pieces of our hearts and dreams up to God we ask, isn’t this enough? Is there a limit to our pain or some kind of suffering cap we’ll finally reach. Looking around, we wonder why we seemed to have drawn the short straw and they reap such goodness.

The Good News

He knows that —how we feel, what we think. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.” Psalm 103:13-14

I forget that sometimes. Too often. I forget that He made me (Psalm 139:13) and formed me. I forget that He has a plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11) and work for me to do .

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

A Fellow Sojourner

Usually as I try to remind myself of God’s sovereignty, I turn to the pages of Scripture and seek out one of my heroes —Joseph. Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, despised by his brothers yet chosen by God. After being tossed in a well for sharing a dream that he might one day rule over his brothers, Joseph was sold into slavery, accused of rape, thrown in prison, and forgotten. You can read the rest of his story in Genesis 37, 39-46. It’s a pretty amazing to read.

As I read about Joseph’s life, I relate to the unceasing pressure of suffering and trials, feeling forgotten and overlooked.

It would be easy to drown in self-pity. Some might say I have every reason . . .and perhaps you might as well. We look at the details of our lives and see pain after pain with little time to catch our breath. 

But if there’s anything I’ve learned through my forty*cough*cough years of walking the earth, it’s that God doesn’t waste a single tear nor does He toss out our broken hearts and dreams. He uses them to accomplish His purpose and redeems every moment.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28

He takes our experiences, our hearts, the work He created for us and somehow fashions them together to create something beautiful . . . a masterpiece.

Hope Ahead

He did that with Joseph. God needed someone to care for His people —Joseph was that answer. The way was rocky, but God was with Joseph every step of the way.

He called for a famine on the land of Canaan, cutting off its food supply. Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them— Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar. Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character. Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free; the ruler of the nation opened his prison door. Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household; he became ruler over all the king’s possessions. He could instruct the king’s aides as he pleased and teach the king’s advisers.” Psalm 105:16-22

And He does that with us. He did that with me. He breathed life and hope and healing into a life-in-middle woman with a broken heart and birthed a love for people that compelled her to move a thousand miles from familiar. It hasn’t been an easy journey. I’ve lost more than I ever imagined and felt the depth of pain I didn’t think I could survive. As I sit here at my desk, penning words of hope and encouragement, I realize it’s worth it, this life of faith and sorrow and hope. And I will continue to declare His goodness and sovereignty until my final breath.

Where do you think God is leading you? Join the conversation by commenting below or jump over to our Facebook page to share.

Signature: Kim Findlay

Categories // Kim Findlay's Perspective, Life Tags // encouragement, Faith, hope, Kim Findlay, moving, Psalm 105, writing

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