Monday, November 18, 2013

Got Faith Like Turnip Greens?

                    

Thanksgiving time reminds me of turnip greens.

 

 Mama would bring home "a whole mess" of them, and we girls gathered around  to pick them. I recall as a child thinking there was no way all those greens would fit in the pot. But once she put them in the boiling water (along with some fabulous ham hock) those greens would cook down to a fraction of their original size. A garbage bag full of greens would yield  about a stockpot full.


 Turnip greens are like faith.

 You think you have a lot till the hot water of hard times hits.

 What you have left is the true size of your faith.

 I am sad to say that my faith too often cooks down to a small bit. Thank God we only need faith the size of a grain of mustard seed to move a mountain, right?

 

It's natural to believe big when times are good. But how do we keep our faith from cooking down when trouble comes?

 
 It helps to realize that God never shrinks. Our faith is only as good as the size of our God.

 
When I feel my faith wilting, I run to  Scriptures like Jeremiah 32:27,   "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for me?"

                                                                                  And

Numbers 23:19, "God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"

 

Hard times come to test our faith. Don't let yours cook down to nothing. Remind yourself of your God who never shrinks and pass the turnip greens!

 

Talk About It: What Bible verses do you cling to when your faith is wilting?
                                               

2 comments:

  1. Oh yes, my faith is cooked down to a little bit of greens somedays too - I like Jeremiah 29:11-13 - I know that God has a plan for me even if I cannot see any aspect of it now.

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  2. Oh, yes, that is another favorite scripture. Thanks for sharing, Brenda!

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