Whoosh!

Okay, so maybe I wasn’t as jumping up and down excited this morning as I re-read Hebrews four and then continued into chapter five as I was yesterday!  But my sedate reaction today has no bearing on the exciting reality of what the Apostle Paul was teaching the Romans.  You must remember that Paul had not actually met the church in Rome at that time.  The letters to the Romans and to the Colossians were written to churches that had not been started by Paul.  In his letter he shared with the church in Rome of his intense desire for “the way to be opened for me to come to you.”  He continued that “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong.”  (Romans 1:10-11 NIV)

I believe that the definitive truths that he was sharing in this letter were part of the “gift” that he wanted to share with them.  I also believe that the recipients of his teachings were jumping with joy over these power inducing and strengthening words.  This is evident by the way the people in Rome flocked to see him when he was under house arrest in Rome at the end of the book of Acts.

The revelation of Jesus Christ that Paul taught was simple in its truth!  Using the example of Abraham’s faith, he taught the young parishioners that in order to receive the promises of God, they had to take their eyes off of their natural circumstances (that in Abraham’s situation were totally hopeless) and keep their expectations strong by looking through the eyes of faith at what God’s word said about what they were believing for.  (Romans 4:18)  It’s simple… maybe not always easy, but simple.

Just before my wife and I got married, I had a close friend who had a 1972 Ford Pinto hatchback.  Now, don’t laugh, my wife’s first car was a 1973 Pinto – fire engine red with fake wood on the sides and chrome mags!  - It was a looker!  If you did laugh, it is because you know that that little car had absolutely no guts!  My wife’s car looked nice but had no power.  In fact, if you were on the highway and turned on the air conditioner, it was like hitting the brakes!  Anyway, my friend’s car may have looked like an ordinary green Pinto, but under the hood it was a little different.  He had made some modifications to the carburetor and added a turbo-booster.  My point is that even though it may have looked like a loser, what you couldn’t see under the hood made it a winner.  In other words, you can’t always go by what you see!  As Christians we have to go by what we don’t see under the hood of God’s word!  I can clearly remember the surprised look on people’s faces when that little engine hit about 3000 RPM’s and with a whoosh, the turbo boost would kick in, followed by a blur of green as it disappeared down the street!  My friend and I were pretty confident that his funky looking green Pinto could easily prove to be the victor against many other cars. 

Our heavenly Father has meant for the Christian walk to be simple to follow and has given us all the tools to make it work in our lives.  Romans 4:21-22 says that God approved of Abraham because he (Abraham) was “absolutely confident that God would do what He promised.”  (God’s Word ©)  Yes, Abraham had to wait many years and go through many trials, but his unyielding confidence in God’s word to him gave him the ultimate victory – The victory which made his stand of faith well worth the effort!

Well, I like it when things are kept simple and uncomplicated.  And that’s just the way God has outlined His plan of salvation (spiritually, physically, emotionally as well as financially) for His kids.  All we have to do is to start the engine of our faith, keep our foot steadily on the gas pedal and then patiently wait until your faith hits 3000 RPM’s.  And then enjoy the “whoosh” of His victory!  Have a great weekend.  Tune into His Word and keep asking yourself… “What WHOOSH am I expecting today?”