During our Bible time this morning, the preacher for the ministry that we use in our private study, Stephen Armstrong of Verse by Verse ministries, said that it is common for people to share encouraging sentiments such as, “keep the faith,” or to make statements like, “I have faith.” My husband and I shared a glance over friends we have that would call themselves, “spiritual,” or, “people of faith,” but, really, what does that even mean? It got me thinking about all the things I find myself putting my faith in, even as a believer, that are not Christ alone.

Money. It is a real shake up of where my faith lies when we’re in a season where we’re not sure how the ends are going to tie. An unexpected fifteen thousand dollar medical bill rocked us a few months ago. Our youngest had to be transported by ambulance to Cleveland’s Rainbow Babies Trauma unit after a four wheeler accident with our oldest. After receiving counsel from our general practitioner, we drove her to Fairview where a full trauma assessment was done on her, and before I could catch my breath my baby was in a neck brace, strapped to an hospital bed, being loaded into an ambulance. During the height of these circumstances, when we were facing potential surgery for her injuries, unsure of the extent of the damage, and overall scared, my anxiety hit a full fledge code red and before I knew it I was hyperventilating, sobbing, pleading with the Lord that He would sustain and heal her.

During the course of my prayer I was flooded with calm. A few of our closest friends and family were praying, we were praying, and in the midst of the panic came a calm that sustained us the rest of the night and into the next few days as we walked through recovery with her at home. Then the bill came and I was panicking once again. We’d just come through Christmas and a vacation, savings were at their slimmest, what were we going to do, how could we ever pay that much money? I so easily forget to remember who the sustainer of my days is. The amount has already been reduced to just a few hundred dollars after insurance cleared the charges. What I forget to remember, at the height of uncertainties, is that the outcome I am so fearing, the Lord not only knows, but controls. That kind of power is humbling to behold. The sort of faith that sort of power is owed, is unimaginable.

The Lord knew our faith would waver. He is faithful despite our faithlessness. The enemy would love nothing more than the human sentiment of “belief” to be in anything other than Jesus. Just a generic, “faith in humanity,” or “faith in the goodness of people,” that ultimately has no real basis in anything sustainable, is good enough for Satan as he keeps our eyes from the true source, living hope, by a faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith is a precious and powerful thing.

In the gospel of Matthew, in Matthew 14: 35-36 Matthew writes, “And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.” At this point in Jesus’ ministry he had stopped healing and miracles via public displays and had transitioned to performing miracles after requiring assurances of faith. He did this for a very specific reason, but Malachi 4:1-2 gives us insight into the faith that these people demonstrated, and as a result received healing:

“For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.

 But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
And grow fat like stall-fed calves.

The “sun of righteousness,” is Jesus. He is the light of the world, in Him there is no darkness, He is the light that dawned on Galilee. The Hebrew word used by Malachi for “wings,” is translated to “hem.” What we learn from the account in Matthew is those who knew this prophecy of Malachi, demonstrated faith that Jesus was Messiah, and received healing by faith when they touched the hem, or “wing,” of his garment.

Today is the day of salvation. If you haven’t trusted in Jesus as your savior, today is the day to put your faith where it will count for all eternity. Believe in the One who not only knows the outcome of all of our days, but controls that outcome.

God bless.