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Day 11 – Faith
Growing up in the church, I always heard people talking about these great people of faith in the Bible. Abraham left his family to follow God and was made a great nation; Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land; Esther saved the Jews from destruction by risking her own life and confronting the king; Paul transformed from being one of the biggest antagonists of the Church to the man who wrote over half of the New Testament. I would hear these stories and chalked it up to them having something I didn’t. There was something about their faith that was superior to mine, something God loved
about them that was out of my reach. And so I felt whenever we talked about these people, we spoke as if they were above us and somehow more worthy of God’s love than us. But as I started to read more of what they had to say I learned something that I thought was extraordinary: they were just as broken as I am.
These men and women were ordinary people going about their daily lives when God showed up and offered them an engaging opportunity. The only thing different between them and others is that they chose to believe God and follow Him.
They had faith that God was going to do what He promised to do. In Bob Goff’s book Love Does, he says “I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now I know you simply need to say yes.” The beauty of the Gospel is that we don’t have to be extraordinary to be a part of God’s kingdom. All He needs is for us to trust Him so that he can make our lives into something incredible. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” We have the ability to become extraordinary, not because there is something about us but because of everything about God. So today, take a chance and start small. Pray with one of your friends, join the club you’ve always wanted to or even just start to read your Bible. God sees our effort and is more than happy to meet us where we are. All you need is a little faith.
JOSHUA STARK | SLA, Junior Computer Science major
Growing up in the church, I always heard people talking about these great people of faith in the Bible. Abraham left his family to follow God and was made a great nation; Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land; Esther saved the Jews from destruction by risking her own life and confronting the king; Paul transformed from being one of the biggest antagonists of the Church to the man who wrote over half of the New Testament. I would hear these stories and chalked it up to them having something I didn’t. There was something about their faith that was superior to mine, something God loved
about them that was out of my reach. And so I felt whenever we talked about these people, we spoke as if they were above us and somehow more worthy of God’s love than us. But as I started to read more of what they had to say I learned something that I thought was extraordinary: they were just as broken as I am.
These men and women were ordinary people going about their daily lives when God showed up and offered them an engaging opportunity. The only thing different between them and others is that they chose to believe God and follow Him.
They had faith that God was going to do what He promised to do. In Bob Goff’s book Love Does, he says “I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now I know you simply need to say yes.” The beauty of the Gospel is that we don’t have to be extraordinary to be a part of God’s kingdom. All He needs is for us to trust Him so that he can make our lives into something incredible. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” We have the ability to become extraordinary, not because there is something about us but because of everything about God. So today, take a chance and start small. Pray with one of your friends, join the club you’ve always wanted to or even just start to read your Bible. God sees our effort and is more than happy to meet us where we are. All you need is a little faith.
JOSHUA STARK | SLA, Junior Computer Science major
About this Plan
This 40 day prayer plan was written by students, faculty and staff at Belmont University as a daily devotional for incoming freshmen. Each day guides and encourages new college students in their faith in Jesus Christ through the word of God and the sincere thoughts, seasoned advice and honest prayers of the contributing authors. May these words help you grow in your love for God and your love for others!
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We would like to thank the students, faculty & staff of Belmont University for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: www.belmont.edu
