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 I don’t remember many things from my
childhood, but one thing I do remember: I was alone with just my thoughts,
without parents, or friends. As an 11 year old, I had a problem with my inner
ear and was scheduled for surgery at the hospital. In those days, the
mid-1950s, one was to be at the hospital the day before surgery. After arriving
at Seattle General Hospital I was put in an antiseptic bed, though I wasn’t
feeling a bit sick. After Mother left for home, I began to ponder thoughts of
being alone. Could I handle it?
Perhaps you’ve experienced times when you felt alone and in
need of faith. This year I started re-reading the Bible, beginning in Genesis,
and see stories of people alone, in need of a living faith. I was inspired with
the story of Abraham in chapters 12 through 17. When Abram was 75 years of age,
God appeared to him to lead him and his family to Canaan. During this time, God
said that his descendants would inherit the land. The only problem was that
Abram (later, Abraham) did not have a child.
When Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him and
promised that he would have a son of his own. When Abram really took the
promise seriously, God changed his name to Abraham (father of many nations). So
with us, when we believe God’s promises, our relationship with Him changes. God
asked Abraham to live entirely before Him, and to live blameless in close
communion. Living, and walking with God is a living faith. Also, God changed
Sarai’s name to Sarah. One year later, when Abraham was 100 years of age,
Isaac, his son was born.
While contemplating these chapters, I went to Galatians
where Abraham’s faith is noted. I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase: “If
it is to be, it is up to me.” Thirteen years earlier, Abraham had gotten a son,
Ishmael. He and Sarah had felt that it was up to them to provide the solution
through Hagar, Sarah’s maid—seeing that Sarah was barren. With Isaac, God said
that for Him, nothing is impossible if they believed, not even an improbable
birth.
In Galatians, as in Genesis, a close and personal
relationship with God is based on believing that he provides for us, and not on
what we do. My freedom in Christ is affirmed when I wait for God’s answer to my
prayer. It is noted in the second chapter of Galatians, that the life I live
should be lived by faith. It is to be a living faith, a personal faith in close
communion with the Holy Spirit who lives in me. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, and today. Live freely!
A friend of Jesus,
Gary Kallio
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