Reckless Faith

(click on the picture of the book for a link to Zondervan)

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I'm reading a book called "Reckless Faith" by Beth Guckenberger.  She and her husband tell of their stories of ministering to orphans in Mexico.  They are meeting the call of James 1:27.  They are in the 30-something age range.  They are learning lessons of faith not just from reading books, but by doing.

Reckless faith, as she describes, is the kind of faith that abandons our own safe decisions.  The safe decisions that allow us to always be in control.  The safe decisions that keep us from failure and keep us from trusting God.  Reckless faith is allowing ourselves to be in situations where we fully rely on God because there is no other option.

Here is an excerpt from page 42 of "Reckless Faith,"

Never again will I offer up an explanation that spins God as weak or passive.  If God doesn't come through in the way I want Him to, it should expand my view of faith, not shrink it.  It means there is something else going on, something I can't see or understand, and I have the opportunity to be swept up in it or not.

This is shared in light of God miraculously providing top quality cuts of meat for orphans who prayed for food on a day when their cabinets were empty and there was no food.  The man who ran the orphanage chose to pray for food rather than make phone calls for food.  The man, the orphans who prayed, and the Guckberger's faith were stretched that day.  Their eyes were further opened to God's ability to provide.

Whether it's orphan care or any other issue in life, God is our only hope.  On Him alone do we stand.  Apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).  I am thankful that in orphan care and in all life's issues, it relies on Him, not me.