Is It Really that Simple?

Passage:
Mark 5 (click the link)



Key Verse:
He said to her, "Dear woman, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. You are free from your suffering." (Mark 5:34, NIRV)



Main Idea:
Jesus performs 3 big miracles in this passage.  He sends out demons from a man, heals a woman who has been hemorrhaging for 12 years, and raises a 12 year old girl from the dead.  All because they each believe (or those around them believe) that he can do it.



Reflections:
Is that kind of faith really possible?

On one hand, I have always seen myself as being a very faith-driven person.  Faith comes easy to me, or at least I think it does.  It’s so very easy to sit here and say “Oh yeah, I have faith/belief that God will do this or that.” We all say it. It’s easy to say. Right?  I am certainly finding myself saying those words often.

But on the other hand, do I really believe it?  How do we get ourselves from the place of saying we believe to actually believing and acting on it?

I have a personal story to share about faith. I grew up in Maine; lived there my whole life except for a 7-year hiatus in Massachusetts.  (I know you Texans may be thinking “How different can it be from Maine? They’re all a bunch of Yankees up there.” But trust me. The two states are worlds apart.)  I couldn’t wait to move back to Maine when I was in Massachusetts.

Finally, I got the chance to move back home.  Not only did I move back to my home state, but I moved back onto the street I grew up on… and into the house across the street from my parents… the house which just happened to be owned by my grandmother. She was renting it at the time and so I jumped at the opportunity to be her next renter! 

I had a great job, working in one of my father’s companies as the Marketing and Sales Manager of Timberwolf Tools.  (Yep, I sold power tools. Big ones for the timber-framing industry.)  I loved what I did.  I loved living near my family.  I loved being back in Maine.  I figured I was where I would be for the rest of my life, my plan was to marry a Maine man and have Maine babies and live happily ever after… in Maine (in case you missed that).

When I was 27, my grandmother approached me with the idea of buying her house from her.  She would even finance it for me!  What a deal!  Why wouldn’t I take her up on such a fantastic opportunity?  Especially since I wasn’t planning to go anywhere else.

As I started to pray about it I very clearly heard these words “Don’t do it. You won’t be here.” What?!?  I won’t BE HERE?  What does that mean?

That little phrase started me on a 2 year journey to figure out what other plans God had for my life, which led me to Austin, Texas… a place I had never even visited… or even given any thought to.

I eventually became 100% certain that Austin was where God wanted me.  He revealed to me that I had to Move for Ministry and Marriage, the two greatest desires of my heart. (I call them my 3 M’s.)

So on March 14, 2009 I arrived in Austin, having no idea what I was doing here.  Just knowing that it was exactly where I was supposed to be.  I had no great big job. No significant income. (In fact, my income was worse than when I first graduated college.) No place to live initially. And I knew only a handful of people that I had connected with through other friends and the miracles of modern day technology (i.e. Facebook).

I kept an open mind and went about exploring the city. I found a church, a small group, a roommate, and an apartment in the first 2 months I was here.

By the third month, I met Tres.  (We were matched on eHarmony of all places.)  We went on our first date on June 5, 2009.  To make a long story short we were engaged that autumn and on March 13, 2010 we were married.  364 days from when I moved to Texas.

I tell you all of this not to promote anything great that I did.  (I didn’t do anything amazing.) I simply listened and acted.  I had faith that God would do what he said he would.  I didn’t know how it would look or when it would happen.  I just knew that it would.

On the other hand, I also knew that if I was wrong about Austin—if I had misinterpreted God’s direction—I could always move back to Maine.  But something inside me told me that I wasn’t wrong.  That still small voice told me I was doing the right thing.  That’s called the Holy Spirit.

So in closing I don’t have any magic formula or big wise words to share about acting out in faith.  All I can tell you is: Do it.

Reach out and touch Jesus’ cloak just like the hemorrhaging woman did.  You won’t be sorry.

What do you have to lose in doing so?  So you might move 2000 miles from home.  Who says you can’t go back if you’re wrong?

What would I have lost if I was wrong about moving to Austin?  I’ll tell you what: I would have lost some time with my family and a good amount of money in the process of moving twice.  But that’s about it.

Even if I was wrong about finding ministry and marriage, I would have gained a whole lot of great experiences and new friends in my quest to trust God and would have gone back to Maine, to the comfort of my family, with a whole new life experience.

But in my stepping out I gained so much more than I ever imagined: a husband whom I adore and I am certain I was created specifically for, and a church family that I can’t imagine my life without (just to name 2 things but the list is so much longer).

But most importantly I gained the realization that God has his best planned out for me.  He’s in control of my life, and he knows what I need.  All I have to do is step out in faith and trust and believe that he can perform that miracle.

How hard can that be?  Or maybe I should say: How hard SHOULD that be?

Because it’s actually not that hard at all. It’s only a matter of faith.



WHO AM I?
My name is Kate Sansom and I’m very happily married to Tres, the love of my life.  Together we have a Border Collie who will do anything for a frisbee and two cats that Tres lays no claim to.  (He says the cats are mine and the dog is ours.)  I am a Mary Kay lady and share the position of Worship Leader at PRF with Suzanne Zucca.  Both are my dream occupations.  My favorite place in the world to be is on Matinicus Island, 20 miles off the coast of Maine with my husband, parents, 3 siblings and any other family who can be with us.  If only Maine and Texas were within driving distance of each other.  :)