EYES FIXED ON THE PIONEER AND PERFECTER OF FAITH

Mridula Narayan

Journalism and Mass Communication

SRM University

     

We've often heard some say that we need to call out to God in our bad times and thank God during the good times. In the good times, we tend to forget about God and we are happy and dependent on what he have. In the bad times, we cry out to God saying, “What's happening God”

The truth is God wants us to reach out to Him at all times, to acknowledge him at all times.

God is not interested in only giving us what we need, He is interested in being our everything in every moment of our life.

This is Gods will, His heart – to have us with him, in him and for him forever and ever.

The author of Hebrews portrays this heart of God beautifully in Hebrews 12 : 1 – 2 - “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run wit perseverance the race marked out for us fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.....”

This faith is the promise God has given us from the beginning before the earth or anything in it was created – for which God sent his one and only Son to pay the price for us – to save us and take us home to eternity.

To reach the finish line the runner has to run the race, in the same way we need to run this race on this earth to reach our goal – eternity. And all we need to do is fix our eyes on Him who will perfect our faith to make us reach that goal, the place we belong.

Want to share two very important steps we need to take while running this race to fix our eyes on the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

1) We need to remember God is sovereign

1 Chronicles 29 : 11, 12  - Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.

a) In the good times, it is so important that you remember God. You need to come to an understanding and remember that whatever you have and who you are is from God.

Nothing that you do or you say or you feel can get you to where you are. But it is His grace and his grace in abundance that has given you the strength to do what he wants you to do and be who you are.

He created the way you look and He gives you the ability to do what you have to do because you are his child.

When you know you belong to Him, you will know everything belongs to Him.

b) And in the tough times, it is equally important for us to remember God. To remember that our God is sovereign over all that is in us and around us.

He is not only a God who has control over the good but he also has control over the bad. He holds the whole world in His hands.

You need to remember that the storm doesn't control what God can do in your life, God controls what the storm can do in your life.

No matter what you face, an undecided future, an unstable present or an unpleasant past, you can soar over it by knowing and remembering that the one who holds you is sovereign over all.

2) We need to be thankful in all the circumstances

For this very reason, Paul tells the Thessalonian church in 1 Thessalonians 5 :16-18 to rejoice always, pray continually, and then to give thanks to God in all circumstances.

a) When you know all that you have is His and he is sovereign over all, you will know that he has selflessly given you all that you need for each day. So thankfulness is bound to overflow from your heart.

This realization of the selfless love of God and His sovereignty will put away every pride of your heart and even in the highest peaks of your life thankfulness will abound out of gratitude towards God.

Thanking God will no more be a staple part of your prayer, but it will be an overflow of gratefulness to God.

b) Again, even in the times when the world around is crumbling down, you are facing tough situations and victory seems impossible, knowing that God is sovereign over the everything will turn your sorrow into joy and confusion to peace.

This joy and peace cannot well up to anything but thankfulness, which will overflow from your heart even in the midst of the storm.

GIVE THANKS EVEN WHEN EVERYTHING FALLS APART, BECAUSE HE IS STILL IN CONTROL

So, it's not only in the good times that we thank God or it's not only in the tough times that we acknowledge God – this is not what God has asked us to do. Instead He wants us to be with him in every step of our life – the good times and the bad times.

This is God's will that we thank Him in every moment of our life by realizing that He is in complete control of everything.