Addition or Subtraction?

You know it’s a funny thing, that for most of her life, Piper was the healthiest one in our family as well as in her extended family.  I remember her getting the flu not too long after our wedding, and a few slight colds through the years but that’s about it!  She always took good care of herself.  She did personal exercises for years, took daily walks and was very careful about the food that she cooked and served at our table.  In fact, the kids to this day will joke about her very sparse use of salt in our meals!

I firmly believe that the key to her success was her joyful, cup half-full attitude and her commitment to do whatever it took to keep her at a firm and fit 105lbs… or less!  Throughout the years, various family and friends would suggest to her different eating plans, exercises and lifestyle regiments that they tried, but she could be a little stubborn and was always cautious when it came to changing things around… especially when she had a tried-and-true plan and process that seemed to suit her just right! 

It is interesting to note that her zeal for life, lifestyle choices, health history and positive mental attitude were totally opposite to the “typical” stereotype of someone inflicted with a dementia disease such as Alzheimer’s.  I can’t tell you of the multitude of times I told her story to the different medical professionals we went to over the last twelve years of her earthly stay, that could only shake their heads with puzzlement and confusion when I finished.  Which is exactly why I firmly take to heart verses of scripture like John 10:10 as the culprit behind the attack on her life.  This is the verse where Jesus spoke of the devil as being the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy our lives.

Lately I’ve found myself re-living parts of her journey over the last few years and the path we chose to take, as I’ve been sort of stuck on one scripture in particular found in the book of James.  In a lesson using the faith of Abraham as the standard of our modern-day faith in God and His Word, the leader of the church in Jerusalem stated, “You see, he (Abraham) was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do; his faith was made complete by what he did, by his actions, his good deeds.” (James 2:22 - The Living Bible)  The Contemporary English Version says that “Abraham’s faith and deeds worked together” and that his actions “proved” his faith.

I got to thinking, that just as Piper tended to stick with her lifestyle choices that she knew worked for her, that she and I chose to stick to the plan of faith that we firmly believed that the Lord had given us to follow once she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  As I’ve written before, we had many individuals suggesting (and sometimes demanding) that we stop doing what we were doing, switch gears and follow the plan that they were suggesting to us… but we never did!  Truth be told, we really never even considered the other suggestions because we had prayed and agreed together on a plan in the months before we left Oklahoma.  She and I knew our level of faith and not only what we COULD believe for… but also where we NEEDED to stretch in order to believe for her prolonged health.

As I continued to study this scripture, I began to understand that if I had stopped the direction of faith that Piper and I were following and did what a few others were strongly, fearfully and many times angerly telling us to do, then I would have been abandoning Piper’s and my plan and in doing so, let Piper down by going against her wishes.  Maybe even more importantly… I would find myself proving their faith (or in some cases, lack of faith) and NOT OURS!

Let’s face it here folks… when the rubber hits the road, this was our good fight of faith (I Timothy 6:12), it was our lives and was totally dependent on our faith.  In James 2:22 we see where James teaches that Abraham’s “faith was made COMPLETE by what he did”, not by someone else’s faith and what they told him to do!

Thayer’s Greek Definitions tells us that one of the meanings of the word “COMPLETE” is “to ADD what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full.”  That definition also caught my attention because I realized that every “suggestion” that was given to us that was contrary to the direction we were taking, would limit the scope of what we were standing for in faith, and would in some way or another, take away from our quality of life at that time and in effect… SUBTRACT from the end result that we were expecting!

One thing I knew back then and still hold on tightly to today, is that my God is the God of ADDITION… or better yet, the God of MULTIPLICATION!  My Bible tells me that He is the giver of the “good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.” (Luke 6:38 KJV)  He is the One who, through His power working in us, is able to “achieve infinitely more than our greatest requests, our most unbelievable dreams, and (far) exceed our wildest imaginations!” (Ephesians 3:20 TPT) … And I could go on and on as there are many examples of His nature of abundant giving throughout both the Old and the New Testaments!

So, what are a couple of good pointers that act as a quality litmus test for faith?  First of all… Ask yourself it what you are believing for from God is based on what YOU know to be true or on what someone else knows and believes.  When the times get tough… it is tough to go on if the foundation of your stand of faith isn’t inside of you.  If you’re standing on what someone else believes when the rough patches hit, then that foundation of expectation for what your standing for... won’t be there when you need it!

And secondly… check to make sure that what you are believing God for does indeed, ADD a positive result to your quality of life and not SUBTRACT from what you already have.  Remember, God’s wants the BEST for you.  It takes work to believe in God and His Word and stand in faith for the promises that He wants you to have from His Word.  Like my example of Piper’s healthy lifestyle above, you’ve got to have the right “I can do it” attitude, you’ve got to practice your faith by exercising it on a regular basis, indulge some self-control and not give up when the going gets tough.  And finally, stay consistent in your expectations of God’s Word working for you!

Have a great weekend, and once again... keep expecting God’s best in your life!