Inside, Outside, Upside-down

Have you ever read the fun children’s book, Inside, Outside, Upside Down by Stan and Jan Barenstain? Brother Bear has a good time playing in a box in which he ends up riding on the back of a truck and tumbling about. The story takes me back to when my children were young and when I when I was small. How much fun playing in boxes can be! But, what about the boxes of my life or of yours? What about our beliefs or faith?

Do you ever wonder about the state of your faith? Do you have faith on the inside that is not evident on the outside? Are you acting like you have faith on the outside, but it is not touching you inside? Are life’s challenges causing you to feel like your faith is upside-down? If so, do not despair. These are common spiritual ailments with prescriptions for improvement in the Bible.

True faith is rooted in God and His Word. It starts on the inside and extends to the outside. It provides a basis when everything seems upside-down. Romans 10:8-10 (KJV) explains, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” If you are finding it difficult to believe or accept, you can do as the disciples of Jesus did, ask Him to increase your faith (Luke 17:5), and as the Israelites were instructed to do, seek God with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

After we receive God’s gift of salvation, we need to start the lifelong process of living out our faith, building ourselves up in the faith inside, exercising it outside, and holding onto it when it seems upside-down. I find encouragement in reading about many long-ago people of faith in Hebrews 11.