God can sustain us through our faith in Him.

What is faith? You experience it every day in small ways. You have faith that you will reach out and open the front door of our school. You would be very surprised to find it locked at a time when you would usually come in for class. You have faith the chair in your classroom will hold you up. This is because you’ve always been held up by it before. We put faith in very small things all the time without even thinking about it.

So what does it mean to have faith in God? One definition of faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing. Confidence the door is unlocked or trust the chair will hold you up. So trust in God is that, but bigger. We trust He will do everything He says He will do! We trust even when we cannot see. We have confidence that God is working in our lives.

2 Corinthians 5:6-7 says “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight.” At home in the body means we are here on Earth instead of in heaven with God. As long as we are here, we have to live by faith…confident that God is with us, around us, in us through His Spirit, guiding our lives. One day our faith will be sight. We will meet God in heaven and see Him face to face!

One song puts it this way: “I put my faith in Jesus. My anchor to the ground. My hope and firm foundation. He’ll never let me down.”

We put faith in many things that will not last. Our faith is never wasted with Jesus. He paid for our sin with His life. He has done what no one else in history was willing to do. He is worthy of our faith. Faith in Him will sustain you through your whole life.

Where have you put your faith in things besides Jesus?

How have those things let you down?

What does your faith look like right now?

Jesus, you have never let us down. You are the only one worthy of our faith. Help us see ways we have put our confidence in other things. Help us remember that faith in you will sustain us through everything we go through in our lives.

Thank you for being faithful to go to the cross and pay the price for our sins.

Let our knowledge of your love for us fuel our faith until we see you face to face! Amen.

Matthew 6:25-34: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you - you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”

Remember a few years ago when we had to go into lockdown for COVID? We were all worried about having enough toilet paper! What? I’m sure you’d never really thought about toilet paper that much before. I mean, it is just always there when you need it, right?! Or then when we’ve had those crazy February storms and we have no power or water. These are things we are certain of until they disappear. Then what do we do? Sometimes we panic. Why? Our Heavenly Father knows what we need. Think about it. He sustained us through all of these things. The Lord has brought us through so many things in our lives.

Take time to make a list of all the things that you DO have. God has blessed you. Spend a few minutes thanking God for those things.

Gratitude is the idea of waking up every morning and focusing on what we DO have and trusting God for what we don't. It is a heart that can clearly see all of the blessings in our lives, and then answer the chaos, conflict, and confusion with a grateful heart.

Lord, we are so thankful for this GOWEEK. You have given us new thoughts of you. You have sustained us. Thank you for the opportunity to learn more about you during this week of service. Let this guide us and keep us through the coming year.

You are loving and faithful. You give us joy and calm our fears. You sustain us, and we are grateful! Amen.