Continuing Pastor Herk’s message of faith, he asks: “In a fallen world, do negative life issues beyond our desires and control happen because of our lack of faith or because God is ready and willing for them to happen? It is not a lack of faith, but faith in faith that is the problem. Our faith is in Creator God and God’s ways are not our ways. Don’t trust in your belief because you do not know what is in store for you; but, trust God. Our faith is not measured by the quantity of belief that we can muster, but by the greatness of God. Our trust is in God alone. God’s will is never wrong and He never makes mistakes. But, sometimes we do.
Secondly, faith is not trust in what we what to happen. We cannot trust in what we want. Faith is an expression of utmost confidence in God. But, it is still possible for us to believe that God should do what you want Him to do and think He should do. You have to be careful about that. You have to avoid having faith in faith. Have you ever found yourself trusting in God to do some very spiritual thing that you have decided He needs to do? Sometimes, we begin counting on what we would love to have happen, simply because we believe that it is in God’s best interest and will bring Him glory. But, do we realize that it is going to bring glory to God whatever happens, not just the way that we think it will? Because the results we sincerely desire are for God’s sake or for what we believe are for the benefit of another person, sometimes we are convinced that they should just occur.
Do not have a faith that blindly insists on what we would love to have happen. Even if what we would want to have happen would seem to honor God, such faith is foreign to the God’s word in the Bible. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego did not have a faith that said that God should act in a certain way. Faith is not trust in what we want to have happen. Faith is trust in God and that His will is perfect; that what God wants to have happen is the way it has to happen.
Thirdly, Faith is not trust in our ability to read God’s will. Believers are not more holy because they have a certainty that such and such will happen or have identified correctly what God needs to do next. Believers are not more faithful when they think that they can tell God what to do next. We cannot tell God what to do. We can ask for a certain outcome, but we cannot tell God what to do. We do not know what God wants to happen. Faith of this sort is measured by the conviction with which one speaks about how God will bless and by the specificity with which the blessing is described. Faith is trust in God alone. Great faith does not claim what only God could only know, it claims only to know the God who knows.
What is biblical faith? It is trust in God alone and follow Him. God is God and we are not. True biblical faith let’s God be God. It doesn’t depend on our efforts to view what God should or should not do. Faith is simply resting upon the truth that God is God and we can trust Him no matter what.
One of the truest tests of your faith is when God’s answer to our petitions is “no”. All the while, you feel like you have been doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. You are honestly trying to live a life that honors God. But, you don’t have to be a Christian very long before you find yourself in a tough situation. We’ve all had it happen to us, and even though we pour out our heart to God in prayer, God doesn’t answer “yes”. God’s answer may be “wait till later”, “no” or “I have something better for you instead”. That is the greatest test. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego said, “But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Is your faith still in God when He says “no”?
2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Faith is in God alone. Faith is trusting and following Jesus. I guess the question today is: “Do you want to live in faith and walk by faith?” Lord, we thank you for your holy Word, which builds our faith. Lord, we thank you for your unconditional love, that by faith we receive. Lord, make us more like you. Lord, help us to walk through hardships in life because we have faith in you. Lord, increase my faith.
In Christ, Brian
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