Friday, October 5, 2012

Fall Back Into Faith Fridays - Part 4 Family

Welcome back!  I hope you're enjoying our Friday study Fall Back Into Faith.  We worked through three weeks of looking at our faith, and I could spend thirty more, but we still have to tackle family, fortune, and fun.  If faith is our foundation, then family is our cornerstone. 

Today is family.  My family has been lots of shapes and sizes over the years.  I was an only child for four years.  At 12, my immediate family went from a family of four to a family of three.  I was fortunate to have all four of my remarkable grandparents until my late 20s.  I have aunts and uncles and cousins.  I have friends and their moms that feel like my own sisters and mothers.  Then I married into a huge family over six years ago and a small family gathering with the Vincents is always over 20 people eating around tables and couches. 

Your family may just be one or two people.  It may be 50 people.  You may feel that your family is extended or small.  Your family may have words like step or half in it like mine does.  Whatever your family looks like, God loves your family. 

Our scripture today comes from II Samuel.  I love this passage:

"The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever…Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever." Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.
Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said: "Who am I, Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign LORD, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign LORD, is for a mere human!  How great you are, Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. …And now, LORD God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, so that your name will be great forever."

Do you ever feel like that?  I do.  Sometimes I look at the amazing blessing of my family and I say to God - WHO AM I?  What is my family?  That you would be so gracious to us, so mindful of us, so faithful to us.  You have brought us so far. 

There was a song decades ago that came out by a Christian band called Truth.  I remember singing it in high school, but it resonates even more today:

We have come so far, you have been so good.
When I trace the road that we have traveled, I've got to tell you Lord.
I look at where we've come, I see where I could have been,
And I need to say again, you've been so good.
Who would have guessed that we would come so far. 

Don't you know that is what King David was singing to the Lord in II Samuel.  Can't you hear him marveling at the generosity of the God he served?  Not only have You brought us this far, but You speak of a future for us.  You speak a promise over our family for years to come. 

I don't know what your family looks like. 
I don't know what struggles your family faces this year. 
I don't know what rich blessings the Lord has poured out in your life. 
I do know that families can be complicated and hard at times.  And I know families can be chaotic and frustrating.  But families are also His precious miraculous gift to us.  Families are the cornerstone for our lives when all else unravels. 

Trust Him with your family today.  In whatever space you are in, good or bad, TRUST HIM WITH YOUR FAMILY.  Trust Him that He will establish a house for you.  God will use your family to establish His kingdom if you allow Him. 

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