My advanced age has made my recent bout with Covid very challenging and frustrating. So, in seeking God’s help, my attention was drawn to the issue of faith, how I should view faith, and how faith and trust in God’s Word determines the outcome.
What is faith? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things notseen (Hebrews 11:1). A biblical definition of faith reaches beyond the acceptance of God’s existence. It is a trust in God’s promises, His Word, and a reliance on His character and power, even when things are not immediately visible or understood. Genuine faith abandons human self-reliance and places total dependence and trust in God.
Faith trusts in the inerrancy of His Word, especially when tangible proof is unseen. However, to trust God’s Word, we must have a personal relationship with Him, for genuine faith is not passive. Trust often involves sacrifice and sometimes suffering while yielding to God’s will and direction as shown throughout Scripture.
Noah was a man who took God at His Word and did all that God commanded of him (Genesis 6:22). Imagine being told to build a boat the size of one and one-half football fields when there was no water to be seen. He labored 120 years under the mocking and ridicule from those who watched him build the behemoth ark. But his unquestioning and steadfast obedience to God saved him and his family so mankind could be restored.
Joseph was wholly devoted to the Lord, yet he suffered at the hands of his jealous brothers who sold him to slave traders. They then sold him to Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and captain of the guard in Egypt. Unjustly accused of assaulting Potiphar’s wife, Joseph was sent to prison. Time passed when Pharaoh had a disturbing dream. Joseph, known to have a gift for accurate interpretation of dreams, interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and was then placed as 2nd in command over all of Egypt.
Joseph’s faithful and unwavering trust in God brought about great blessings to him and eventually to his family. So, when a famine forced his brothers to travel to Egypt to buy grain, Joseph, revealed his identity and told his fearful brothers, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people (Israelites) should be kept alive, as they are today (Genesis 50:20).
Moses, who had been raised in the opulence of Pharaoh’s house, killed an Egyptian who was beating a Jew. He fled Egypt and became a refugee, fugitive, and shepherd. He eventually answered God’s call and became His prophet.
God told Moses to go before Pharaoh, and though reluctant, he obeyed God and presented what would become God’s 10 ultimatums with corresponding consequences for each refusal to let the Israelites leave. The last ultimatum was the death of the Egyptians’ first-born sons and livestock. It was the death of Pharaoh’s first-born son that finally drove him to release the Israelites for their journey to the Promised Land.
Mary was visited by an angel who said, Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you (Luke 1:28). The angel then told Mary that she would conceive and give birth to a son who would be named Jesus. He would be great and be called the Son of the Most-High andhis kingdom would never end. Her response was May your Word to me be fulfilled (Luke 1:35-38).
Consider the magnitude of what was relayed to Mary who was betrothed to Joseph. There would be rejection, gossip, ridicule, and judgment. Yet she agreed to what God was requiring of her. If God asked you to do something that made no sense, and had potential for ridicule and judgment, how would you respond? Would it be with obedience, faith, and trust that God had a purpose in what He was asking of you.
The woman with the issue of blood believed she would be healed if she touched Jesus’ garment. Jesus sensed the power had gone out of Him and asked who had touched Him. The woman came forward and confessed to Him. He then assured her, Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace (Matthew 9:22).
This woman believed that Jesus’ Word was true and could be trusted. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.He was in the beginning with God. Jesus is the incarnate Word (John 1:1-3).
My favorite is the faith of the centurion who felt unworthy that Jesus should come to his house, so, he sent friends to Jesus with the following message: Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I, myself, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it (Luke 7:6-8 NIV).
When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to the crowd that followed Him, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And the men who had been sent to Jesus, returned to the centurion’s house and found the servant well (Luke 7:1-10).
The afore mentioned pillars of faith had difficult challenges, yet they remained faithful to God and believed in His promises. But be warned, the enemy of our soul will do anything to discourage and have us doubt God’s goodness and reliability. For that reason, Christians are called to a life of faith, trust, and obedience to God and His Word.
God calls us to speak His Word with power and authority given to us through Christ. Confessions of faith can be made by personalizing and speaking Scripture over the lives of others and our own life. As an example: Bless the LORD O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all my iniquities, who heals all my diseases and redeems my life from destruction and crowns me with loving kindness and tender mercies (Psalm 103).
The more God’s Word is read and spoken, the more it grows deep within the heart. For God said, My Word which goes out of My mouth will not return to me void (empty) without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11). As born-again Christians we have that same authority to speak these truths in faith, but how many use their God-given authority.
I will leave you with this powerful verse found in The Book of Wisdom, a.k.a. Wisdom of Solomon, included in the Greek Septuagint. It wasn’t any herb or ointment that healed them but Your Word alone, Lord, which healseverything (Book of Wisdom 6:12).
God’s Word is living and active, sharper and more powerful than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). Thus, when Satan came to temp Jesus in the desert, Jesus responded, “It is written” and then spoke the Word. Satan left. As Jesus did, so we too are to speak His Word in faith.
PRAYER: FATHER, help me seek You each day in prayer and through the reading of Your Word. I desire that Your Word take root deep within my heart and spirit so that I can walk in faith and be daily prepared for any challenge or battle that may come. In Jesus’ name. Amen.