Jill Briscoe
February 10, 2001
10:30 am
Faith Enough to Finish
Message Summary
Jill Briscoe spoke on maintaining a fresh faith through, "the 'hows' and the 'ifs' that happen in our daily lives." Through personal stories, graphic illustrations and Lamentations 3, she explained how to develop this fresh faith day by day, morning by morning, and hour by hour in a way that blesses the church community.
"The Christian faith is not one giant leap for mankind," Briscoe stated, "but morning by morning finding his face." God often puts us in circumstances that seem confining until we realize that He is waiting for us to listen to His words and follow His will.
In Lamentations 3, Jeremiah bemoans the fall of Jerusalem, blaming God for the fall of his nation. What the prophet didn't realize, Briscoe explained, was that God's apparent nature does not reveal His apparent character. He had gotten God and the circumstances of life mixed up; when we are in faith distress, God often becomes distorted.
Briscoe related the story of a friend who was suffering from cancer and seemed unable to feel the familiar presence of God. She was, instead, forced to concentrate on God's character and her knowledge of his faithfulness. "If we mind our mind, God will mind your soul...when you can't feel him with your feelings, feel him with your faith."
Through the life of Jeremiah, Briscoe also explained that the point of seeking knowledge is to fulfill the primary calling of a relationship to God. The word of God should happen to us and transform us into new creatures. As we develop our primary calling, God will develop our secondary callings—placing His work in our hands.
We often get the primary and secondary callings mixed up by forgetting the Lord of the work for the work of the Lord. Briscoe also related that God will place His words in our mouths and His tears on our face. By our commitment to meeting other's needs, God shows us the tools and gifts that we don't have for the jobs that we have to do.
Student Response
I appreciated the stories that Briscoe told of her early days as a pastor's wife. She didn't know how to do her job but trusted God for the necessary tools. She explained that the mindset of excellence and the fear of failure often motivates people to do nothing. "We want to do things well, so we don't try. But," she went on to relate, "if we just do it, badly and heartily, God will take it away or gift us to do it better." I appreciated her honesty and challenge to be more willing to try different ministries.
—John-Joseph Johansson, Sophomore, Communications/Print Media major