I've been learning a wee little bit about this area in my life over the last couple of years. Back about to or so years ago, I asked God to help me with my faith, specifically, to have more of it. And it has honestly been two years of the wildest rides of my life. One thing that I can assure you of though - it isn't always easy. In fact, sometimes it can be really really rough. However, the overriding lesson to be taken from this is that God is always faithful. Always. Ha, if I could even say that I was sometimes faithful, I'd be happy :P Something I've noticed along the way is that faith entails a lot of trust. This is because in order to have faith that God is going to do something, or just faith about God in general, you have to trust in His faithfulness, and trust that He is able, even when it seems impossible. This is reassuring however, because we don't serve the God of the possible. Rather, we serve the God of the Impossible! However, the line by P.O.D. is very true - "The hardest part of holding on is letting it go." This is especially true when God is concerned, because He does so much that we cannot see. And, as you'll be able to tell from my other "thoughts" and if you actually know me, I struggle with this as much as, or even more than, the next guy. Some key points that I've learned. First, faith isn't faith if it just happens when things look promising, or when it's easy. Faith means sticking it out even when things look impossible. This is especially when the things of God are concerned. It wouldn't be faith in Him if at the first sign of trouble we turn and run, although that does tend to be the first "human" instinct - to avoid any kind of unpleasant situation. Secondly, faith isn't always the most popular position to be in. We may get jeered by our peers. We may get mocked by strangers. Even by people that we love and care about. Third, faith is tested. There is an important distinction here between being tempted and being tested. Temptation does not come from God; rather it comes from our enemy, with the sole objective to lead us to sin. Temptation in and of itself is not sin, it's a part of life. But when we act upon temptation, then we sin. Being tested however, is kind of like yanking on a rope. If you pull and it is strong, it will not break. However, if you pull and it is frayed and weak, it will snap. This is kind of a gross generalization I know, but it's kind of how God tests our faith sometimes - He will allow a certain circumstance or even to happen in our lives that correlates to something we're trying to be faithful about, and He watches to see how we react. Do we turn our backs on what He has showed us? The rope snaps. Do we look the other way for a while, and then come back to the path He has for us? The rope stretches. Or do we keep looking straight at Him, not paying attention to that circumstance that just cropped up? The rope holds firm. One of the best chapters in the Bible that outlines so much of faith is Hebrews 11: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. The reason that I have become so interested in faith itself is because of what all has happened in my life, and the tremendous impact it has made. My life today is so incredibly different from where it was just a few short years ago. And my life today is so incredibly different from where it was just a few short months ago as well! This isn't to say that I'm faithful. Rather, much the opposite is true. I have doubted with the best of them. I have flat-out told God that I didn't believe Him when He has spoken to me. However, even when I am faithless, He is still faithful. Even when it seems so hopeless, so impossible, He is there to reassure me. Even when I don't have the strength to go on one more minute, even when I'm so burnt out I can't stand, He gives me His strength to hold on. In my experience, one of the biggest enemies of faith is thought. Especially in my life. So much so, in fact, that one Thursday evening I was at a prayer meeting and someone there started prophesying over those of us who were present, and one of the things that he said about me was that my thinking was the biggest obstacle to my faith. You see, thinking is the very fertile breeding ground to doubt, and doubt, to disbelief. Prayer, on the other hand, is the herbicide to doubt. And trust is the fertilizer for our faith. The more we trust to God, the more He can prove Himself faithful, and the more faith we have the next time something happens. In conclusion for tonight, you'll see in the passage above that the writer of Hebrews mentioned something happening by faith 22 times. Notice that not once did it say that they saw something happen, and then they believed that it had happened. That in reality doesn't require any faith at all. In every instance, the end result occurred because the person held onto something they couldn't see. In a number of the cases, they never even saw the realization of their faith before their death. And in other cases, it was because of their faith that they lost their earthly lives. Faith is at the core of Christianity. It is a chief requirement of every believer. We have faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He was born of the Virgin Mary, that He lived a blameless life, that He was falsely charged, beaten, and then murdered, only to be raised from the dead victoriously on the third day! We have faith that by His death, our sins are forgiven, covered by the Blood that He shed on that cross. We have faith that because of the price He paid, we are saved for all of eternity, and that when we die, we will see Him face-to-face. |
Thoughts >