He has It

“And be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” – Philippians 3:9

Faith, confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).  That word confidence seems to keep finding its way back into my life, but in all different circumstances.  I think of George Muller, he was a man of amazing faith and confidence in his God.  He would thank God for a meal before there was even food, he had such a strong confidence in his God and he knew that God could do more than he could ever imagine.  This verse starts out with “And be found in Him,” which reminds of Moses, when God tells him to reach within himself and his hand comes out with leprosy.  Before that God told Moses to pick up a snake (his staff) by the tail.  Of course I cannot be positive, but since Moses was a Shepard for forty years I would assume that he knew that you never, ever, pick up a snake by its tail.  Only someone who wants to be bitten by a snake would pick it up by the tail, you always grab at its neck, right at the head.  But, Moses couldn’t have control, he had to let go and let God.

Moses had no confidence in himself, he told God that he couldn’t be his messenger, because he couldn’t even speak.  We see that God just reminds Moses of who it was who created his mouth, his lungs, and his voice box, everything that gave him the ability to speak.  Moses had to be found in Christ, he couldn’t reach in himself, because that would only produce leprosy; when your body just starts to die and rot.  Instead, he had to have confidence in the Lord and pick up his staff by the tail.  He had to let God take the lead, Moses put himself in Gods will.  One could follow all the commandments and still not be walking in the will of the Lord.  That is why our righteousness cannot come from the law, but must come from God on the foundation of faith.  We are only found in Him, when we continually abide in Him.  Moses had to have faith that God would not let the snake turn around and bite him, and have confidence that God would lead him on the right path.  It sometimes can be really hard to let go.  When we can’t be there for people, when we have no idea what is going on in the lives of those we love the most, it can hard to let go and put all of our faith in Christ.  Yet, we need to have confidence in God and His perfect will.  He can see the end from the beginning and He is in control.

When those around you are literally tearing apart their lives, when you can see them ultimately hurting themselves and their future it can be hard to wait on the Lord.  Yet, faith is confidence in what we hope for; knowing that our Lord listens to our prayers and is always working, even if we don’t see it.  Faith is also the assurance in what we don’t see.  I always thought that this verse was talking about Jesus, that we can have assurance that He is working, even when we cant’s see it.  But, I think it is also can relate to those who have been separated from their families and loved ones.  This happens all the time to persecuted Christians, and it becomes a daily choice of putting their faith in God.  Even when we can’t see or communicate with the ones we love, we have to joyfully put our complete faith in the Lord.  We can do nothing.  When we reach within ourselves we pull out leprosy, but when we can be found in our Heavenly Father and we are walking in His will, we can have confidence and assurance in His power.  For God only asks us to pray, there are times he calls us for more, but The Holy Spirit is the only one who can truly change ones heart. I can’t even count how many times I have heard things like this or read this verse and yet, God is continually reminding me to just love, read, pray and have faith.