06/24/2019
Affirmation is something we all need from time to time. Do you ever find that you begin to question something that you once felt so certain about? Do you need some time alone with your spouse so that you can rekindle your love, or maybe you feel that the profession you once thought was so perfect for you, might not be after all... you just don’t know? Well, how about your faith; are there times of questioning it as well?
“And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
Luke 2:18-19 ESV
Mary had been spoken to by an Angel, agreed to carry the Son of God, was moved on by the Holy Spirit, told by Elisabeth that she was blessed, and finally gave virgin birth, but in this scripture she seems to hear something new about the child she had just delivered, or did she just need someone to reaffirm what she already knew, and had been through?
In most things of life we need to have reaffirmation. As my wife has told me at different moments in our life regarding me verbalizing my love for her, “Sometimes I just need to hear you say it!” We all need to hear “I love you” spoken, even when we see it in action each day. We all need for our boss, or others, to tell us we are doing good at or jobs even when our raises and the paychecks we bring home say we are doing well... and we also need to receive reaffirmation of our faith from time to time, whether it be from a friend we know, a saint, our pastor, an Angel, or God Himself. Just as my wife expressed to me “Sometimes I just need to hear you say it.” Sometimes we need to receive encouragement, or a renewal of commitment and love.
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.”
1 John 4:16-17 ESV
We know that Jesus loves us, we know that God loves us too, because they abide in us, but on occasion we need to hear, just as Jesus did, that we are good and faithful children. We need to speak with our Father, and even if our conversation isn’t verbal, we need to see the signs and miracles that reaffirm our spiritual conversation. We need the miraculous deliverances, the acts of unparalleled love, the signs, and healings. It might be a whisper like driving by a billboard on the interstate that speaks to something we just prayed about, or perhaps something a little louder as we receive a word in a dream that wakes us up and leads us to prayer, or maybe we need a SHOUT like a sudden and miraculous healing from Cancer, or some other miracle that defies all explanation.
“When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."”
John 11:43-44 ESV
So my question today is pretty straight forward, and is directed primarily at those who are undergoing a season of doubt, a crisis of faith, or enduring a time in the silence of God... “When was the last time you told God you loved Him, and did you ask Him to tell you the same?” Sometimes we just need to say it, and sometimes God needs to hear it too...
“I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psalms 18:1-2 ESV
And in those times when we need God to speak to us we need to let Him know how much we long to hear His voice...
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”
Psalms 22:1-2 ESV
Needing a reaffirmation of our faith is not something to be looked on as a failure on our part... it is a natural part of any relationship. We don’t fall in love once during our youth and remain committed to one another throughout life without action... without showing each other our love, and telling each other how that love remains. Life changes us; it changes us physically, mentally, and spiritually. As we change our relationships must be readjusted to fit, and this requires a heavy dose of reaffirmation. Married couples sometimes reenact their wedding vows, take second honeymoons, or other such acts of recommitment. People of faith go to the altar as if accepting Jesus for the first time, visit Jerusalem, pray, or go on pilgrimage. However we go about it our ever changing relationships, even spiritual ones, need to be reaffirmed. Are you keeping your relationship with God fresh, and up to date?
“Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!”
Psalms 143:1 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for each passing day and the lessons you teach me. I thank you for my spiritual growth, and our ever deepening relationship. Help me Holy Father to keep telling you how much I love you, and to listen as you speak these words to me. In times of doubt, and when I am challenged to keep abreast of my faith, I pray that you will speak to me, and give utterance to my spirit as I attempt to voice a reaffirmation of my faith, and our relationship. Never leave me in silence for long Father, but open my ears to the quietest of your whispers during the dark nights of my faith, and our love. Shine your light once more on me, and help me as I reflect it brilliantly onto my world, my faith, and our walk together. Let this be a miracle of rejuvenation, a sign of our love for one another. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who recreates my faith with each new lesson, and leads me to a bold new understanding of you, and our relationship, in the process. Praised be your name in the storms when my nature causes me to doubt, but your love and mercy speaks to me. All glory is yours Father in the moments when your grace rescues me from the dark, and your whispers become voice, then SHOUTS! You are my God, now and forevermore, and your Son Jesus my Savior, even as your Spirit is my encouragement to say “I love you always!”
“the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”
Jeremiah 31:3 ESV
Rich Forbes