Applying the Works of Faith
by Jim Person
Have you ever been in a place where you have to step from the knowledge of something to the application of it in your life? God reminded me of a situation from my past that impressed me to follow the instructions given to me by the creator of the product to accomplish the desired results.
On our commercial fishing site in Alaska, we repaired most of our equipment. One piece of equipment crucial to our operation was our boats. Without them working properly we were “sunk,” literally! On one occasion we had to repair a crack in one boat due to its contact with a rock the day before, as we were picking our nets during low water. My father was my teacher on many aspects of repairs and procedures in my life as a fisherman.
On this particular day, I watched my father take out the fiber glass from its package to place it on the bottom of the boat to repair it. After he had placed the fiber matting and applied the resin to the crack in the bottom of the boat, it took only a short time before he realized he had forgotten to apply the catalyst to the resin. I learned an important lesson that day. Without the small container of catalyst mixed into the resin, the fiberglass would never harden. It would never bring about the strength necessary for the crack in the boat to be repaired.
So it is in our own life... when we do not apply faith to our situation, along with the action or working out of it, we will never see the substance of our faith realized in our lives. We must apply faith daily as we do our Father`s instructions. So often we go about our lives doing what seems right in our own eyes. Faith is having the confidence of things we hope for, the evidence of them not yet seen in our lives. On the fishing site, we needed to have confidence in our boat`s abilities to stay afloat in order for us to set our nets, so we could gather the unseen harvest we hoped for from the cloudy waters off our fishing site. Even after applying the fiberglass with all its components to repair the crack in our boat, it wasn’t until we got into the boat when it was in the water that we could see the fruit of our labor accomplished by the evidence of no water leaking in! .
Are you in a place of applying faith into your life? Are you willing to trust in the application of it by doing what has been placed before you by the Lord to do? Or are you doing what seems right in your own eyes? How will you see the evidence of what you are hoping for, if you don’t take action?
Today, will you trust in that which you do not see, by applying the works of faith in your life?
Prayer: Oh God, I don’t know what is waiting for me when I start upon the journey you are asking me to take! Help me, Lord, to do it even though I can’t see what the outcome will be! I want to trust you and see you make a way for me, when I see no way! I choose to submit to your wisdom Lord, and place my life anew in your hands. Amen.
Jim Person Jim grew up in Alaska and from a small child commercial fished every summer with his family. God called him, his wife Tanya, and their four children to move to Hungary as missionaries in 2003. God then led him to join Ellel Ministries in 2005. After serving in various positions with Ellel in Central and Eastern Europe, God led them back to the United States, where he is now serving with the Ellel USA team. Jim and Tanya have a passion to see leaders restored, the church discipled and walking in God’s fullness of life and freedom. They also love mentoring the existing and developing Ellel teams wherever God leads them. Jim also has a real gift for working with the land to create a beautiful and welcoming environment.
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