Kathy Walls - The Triumph of Faith - Communion, September 13, 2026

I'm reading from Psalm 112 today, and then I'll just hone in on a couple of scriptures.

It's called the Triumph of Faith.

Shout in celebration of praise to the Lord.

Everyone who loves the Lord and delights in him will cherish his words and be blessed beyond expectation.

Their descendants will be prosperous and influential.

Every generation of the righteous will experience his favor.

Great blessing and wealth fills the house of the wise, for their integrity endures forever.

Even if darkness overtakes them, sunrise brilliance will come bursting through, because they are gracious to others so tender and true.

Life is good for the one who is generous and charitable, conducting their affairs with honesty and truth.

Their circumstances will never shake them, and others will never forget their example.

They will not live in fear or dread of what may come, for their hearts are firm, ever secure in their faith.

Steady and strong, they will not be afraid, but will calmly face their every foe until they all go down in defeat.

Never stingy and always generous to those in need, they lived lived lives of influence and honor that will never be forgotten.

For they were full of good deeds.

So that's um from the Passion version to chapter nine.

So all of us experience and go through trials and difficulties in this life, and none of us are exempt from that.

And hardships can come in different forms, and sometimes they can all come at the same time.

So, and that can leave us at times with a feeling of overwhelm, and at times in extreme situations, despair.

So for me, when I'm going through something, or I have that feeling of too many things happening at the same time, I need to acknowledge that this situation has not caught God by surprise.

And for every problem I encounter, there is a solution.

But how do I find that solution?

And it's the same for us all, it's spending time with God, reading his word, and listening to his voice.

Jesus is referred to as the Good Shepherd, and we as his sheep.

It is written that his sheep know his voice, and the voice of a stranger we will not follow.

Their hearts are firm, ever secure in their faith.

This might sound like a small thing, but recently I injured my knee while exercising, and I thought nothing of it, and I thought I'd be better in a couple of days.

So I didn't worry about it, even though it was painful to walk on.

Well, those couple of days turned into a couple of weeks, and those couple of weeks turned into a couple of months.

Then I re-injured it several times throughout that process.

And then a few other things happened during that time as well.

So part of my mental health with work and other things is to go for a walk every day and often several times a day.

So not to be able to get out and walk in nature, not to be able when things rise, just to work it out and go for a walk was starting to affect me.

And I was starting to, I was tempted to, I didn't, but it was that that thing to get depressed was sitting there because I couldn't go out and walk as I normally did.

So I rejected that and I didn't.

But I started to ponder the situation and thoughts were coming in, fear thoughts were coming, like, what if this is how you're going to live the rest of your life?

What if you can't, you know, you're in your 60s now?

What if you start to decline or whatever?

And I had to consciously make a decision to reject those thoughts because from the moment I hopped out of bed to put pressure on my leg, it hurt till the moment I went to bed.

So I made a decision to believe God's word and believe that his best.

We're talking about walking and leaping and praising God.

And that's an actual part in Acts 3 where they prayed and the man went walking and leaping and praising God.

And so I thought I've really got to get a hold of this mentally.

I've got to get this clear in my mind about where I'm heading and be intentional.

Otherwise, these things are going to overwhelm me every time I experience pain or I'm not able to do something I um I enjoyed.

So I made the decision to start to spend time listening to anointed people who spoke about healing.

We all know that when Jesus died on the cross, that he died not only for our sins, but also for our sicknesses, and that by his stripes we were healed.

He's not going to do it a second time.

It's already been finished.

But what I needed to do was to build my faith, to believe that the work was finished and that he was going to do it for me in that specific situation.

Verse 112 uh in Psalm 112, it says, Strong and steady, they will not be afraid, but will calmly face their every foe until they all go down in defeat.

And I like that because often circumstances can come at us unexpectedly, and it's almost like you've got to position yourself to face that thing head on and listen to God, spend time in his presence, get his perspective on what you're going through, and then stand and and calmly face it until that thing recedes, recedes, recedes, and then disappears and is removed off your life.

So maybe you're facing a situation today where you need to hear from God and to trust that he has already finished the work that he's going to do and that he has an answer, he has a solution, and that his best, he'll always come through.

One thing I always rest in is God is love.

Okay, and I can always rest in his love.

And those of us who are parents, you know, we would never want our children to go through anything unnecessary or struggle or whatever, just to teach them something.

There's always things that we will grow and learn from everything we go through.

Nothing's ever wasted in God.

But God in his love has a solution for every situation we're facing.

So as we take communion today, maybe just bring that situation before the Lord.

Ask for your faith to be strengthened, to really grab hold of what he's saying about it, and to move forward in faith and trust.

Thank you.