Eventually we communicated. Other things were happening in her life but that unreal storm missed her and her family by a couple hours. She knows people who lost everything, and like me, is devastated by this never-before horrendous event.
Today’s devotional reading is about wanting to know what is going on with evidence — in contrast to trusting God when we do not know what is going on. I have a friend that often says that she needs an affirmation to supplement her faith, and finds it hard to trust God when she does not see something happening in regard to her prayers. I’ve questioned that sort of ‘faith’ yet it happens to me too.
The devotional describes this as human thinking. We tend to require some evidence before believing something God says will happen. Even a good feeling about it helps, but something visual is better, or something like a phone call from a family member who could be in danger. I tend to want a strong feeling that something will be okay, a feeling that seems strong and is supposedly reliable. This translates to wanting an affirmation so I can see before I believe that God is answering my prayers. However, this is not the way of faith.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)Faith is described much like something my mother wrote in the back of her Bible: “God said it, I believe it. That settles it.”
I often cannot see what God is doing, but if He makes a promise or any statement about something, my faith cannot be in seeing it happen, but in the reality that God said it would happen. Consider this well-known verse:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)Do I mope about waiting until I die to see if I have eternal life before I can believe it? Obviously if I did that, then my faith was not in what the Word of God says, but in the evidence before my eyes. That would not only be foolish, it would be too late then to believe, and is not a walk of faith in this life either.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)The facts are whatever God says. He tells me to believe in Christ and I will live eternally. I cannot base my faith on any affirmation, for the affirmation comes with a caveat — faith comes first, not after it. This applies to now, everyday life, not just after I die.
… for we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
The sad part is that no matter how many times God affirms that He will take care of something, looking for proof or evidence that He will do it is a mere demonstration that I am not taking Him at His Word, not believing Him at all. Such “faith” is not faith but unbelief, and not only that, “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23)
PRAY: Jesus, I know that You love me because You say so. Even though the evidence is Calvary, this is not about my feelings or even about what I can see. There are days when I don’t feel loved and it seems nothing is happening to prove it. But Your Word is enough. Today I am tired, and for that problem, You give me this promise:
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29–31)And You ask me to move ahead in faith that You will do it rather than sitting here waiting for it to happen before I believe You. I’m aware that You want me to move into this day, faint, weary, even exhausted, but trusting You to give me what I need before I see it happen. Again, a timely truth and another test of faith…
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