Her Faith Thrives

Guest Post by Wisdeen Wu

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” – Matthew 7:13-14

I took a walk today on a local trail in town, just me and my heavenly Father.  Walks like these always center me and remind me of scriptural truths.  I try to listen for how He might speak.  The birds chirping and singing remind me of Jesus’ saying: “Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matt 5:26).   He tells me not to worry.  As I take slow steps higher up the hill I hear: “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?” (Psalm 24:3).  He reminds me of His holiness.  I feel a refreshing cool breeze as I cross an open field.  I smile at His gift to me on this hot day.  He reminds me of His provision.  Even as my legs start to tire, I continue my walk with God. 

There are often times in our Christian walk that feel lonely.  If I’m honest, loneliness has always been something I’ve struggled with. Somehow I never quite feel like I fit into the “mainstream” of whatever my Christian peers are doing.  Of course as a Christian, I know we are called to be “set apart” as believers.  But what if I also feel called apart from those who are walking with Jesus?  What if it’s not enough for me to attend church on a Sunday morning, Bible study on a Thursday, volunteer for this or that service, fellowship with friends, and call it a day?  It might be how Peter felt when he said, “Lord, what about him?” (John 21:21). This is what I call the lonely walk of faithfulness.  Jesus calls all of us to walk with Him on this path.

Some of the questions my friends are asking right now also betray their own feelings of loneliness. Why does my mom have to suffer from terminal cancer?  Why does my marriage have to be falling apart?  Why was my baby born with a lifelong condition?  Why am I still single?  Why do I struggle with my anxious or depressed thoughts?  Why is my family so dysfunctional?  These are just a few examples among many.  Even though why-questions are not the best ones to ask, they can be a part of the way we work through our struggles. In those moments, I anchor myself in those truths we all know, but my soul still yearns to go deeper into what is true. 

The wilderness is a theme we see throughout scripture. Wilderness experiences are lonely and involve long waiting for what is to come.  Moses, the nation of Israel, Elijah, David, Job, John the Baptist, and Jesus all had wilderness experiences.  As for the women in the Bible, I think of Sarah waiting for the promise of a child, Hannah praying fervently in her barrenness, Esther waiting for the redemption of her people, mother Mary waiting to bear the Son of God and then waiting to see His fulfillment.  All of these characters walked a path of faithfulness even though most of them had quite a few human errors along the way (except Jesus of course!).  For all these characters, the path through their waiting and wilderness was a working out of their faith.  It’s what Paul calls us to do when he admonishes us to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). 

God calls all of us to walk with Him through whatever wilderness He assigns to us.  Jesus, as our Good Shepherd, walks with us.  He does not abandon us.  He wants to strip away all the external things that we rely on, until we are dependent on Him alone. He does this so gently and tenderly.  Most days, I want out of my wilderness experience, like yesterday.  It’s lasted far longer than I want, and the voice of God feels hard to hear.  But then when He does speak, I can feel the sweet presence of the loving Father directing me to just take the next step ahead.  I know He is walking right beside me. 

As I walk back to the bottom of the hill, I am thankful to have made it back down safely.  Sure it was just a walk, but it feels hard on a day like today when my body is weary. I just wanted to walk with my good Father and be reminded He is with me.  My heart is content knowing God gave me just what I needed for today’s walk.  Tomorrow will hold something new, but He will still be with me then and every day after that.  So I keep walking through each day, easy or hard, asking the Spirit to remind me that He is a good and gracious God.  He will be with me until the end.  My friend, this is true for you too!

Reflection Questions: 

• Reflect on Matthew 7:13-14.  How do you feel called to walk on the narrow road?
• What wilderness are you currently walking through?
• Where can you see God working out your faith in fear and trembling?
• Additional Scriptures to reflect on: Romans 5:28, Ephesians 3:17-19, Psalm 13, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

For Further Encouragement

Were you encouraged by this blog post? I would love to connect with you on the Her Faith Thrives Newsletter! This newsletter goes out every other month and contains a short personal update, and varying combinations of encouraging reflections like this one, content sneak peeks, and a handful of links to other encouraging resources!