Increasing Measure

    Holidays have come and gone but the memories will last forever. Our family just returned from camping at our favourite campground - Bon Echo Provincial Park. It is an amazing place. It is so nice to step back into nature and enjoy God’s creation. This park is renowned for Mazinaw Rock. It is a 1.5-kilometre sheer rock face that rises 100 metres above Mazinaw Lake. Words cannot describe its beauty. This lake is one of the deepest lakes in Ontario at over 450 feet in places. There is a spot on this cliff that we can canoe over to and spend the afternoon rock jumping. It is a great spot with many different height choices to jump from. Right off the edge it is over 200 feet deep. That makes the jumping (landing) very safe. Here is the problem with the whole rock jumping thing- I am afraid of heights. Rock jumping and the fear of heights do not go well together. With increasing measure we would start at one point and conquer that spot and then up to the next and eventually to the point where you had to launch yourself out into the water which was almost 2 Mississippi’s. It was very exhilarating to say the least. As you would climb to the next level you would gain confidence and then wonder what was the big deal. So what is the spiritual connection here? Interestingly enough history tells us that Methodists used the hotel that used to be there for meetings. (“The hotel was also populated by a contingent of Methodist pastors, and attendance at Sunday church was required by those who stayed there.”) I don’t think they were rock jumping but an interesting side note. Actually Luke 17:5 states that the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith. In 2 Peter 1:8 For if you possess these qualities (take a moment to read them) in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. My biggest desire for myself and those I am leading is for us to increase our faith in God. This involves living by the word of God and believing that God will do what He said He would do. David knew he could conquer Goliath because God had been with him before.  1 Samuel 17:34 “But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” As we grow we are all at different levels of faith. You may just be stepping off one of the low spots but with increasing measure you will grow in your faith. I was always amazed at some of the little kids who would zoom up the rock and jump without fear or hesitation. The faith of a child is really quite amazing. Mark 10:15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Now this is just an illustration of climbing up rocks in increasing measure of which there is a limit but faith in God is limitless. There is nothing to fear when you trust in God. As Christians we need to increase our faith and not be afraid to step out and believe that God will do what He promises in immeasurable ways.