Temporary faith falls short

Leviticus 20; Psalm 25; Ecclesiastes 3; 1 Timothy 5

There is such a thing as ‘temporary faith’ that often shows up when trouble comes. I cry out to God for help and deliverance, but after the trial is over, I go my own way, glad things are back to normal. Talking about this in conjunction with this pandemic, a couple people have remarked that people seem to be turning to God, but the only way to tell if their ‘faith’ is genuine saving faith is after the threat is gone. Will they still call out to God and rely on Him for everything?

The problem of temporary faith is that it is all about getting out of a jam rather than dealing with sin. When I go my own way and get in trouble, the way of the Lord requires that the sin of ignoring and resisting God is confessed. Repentance is part of genuine faith but with ‘temporary faith’ it usually becomes a bargaining chip.

David’s psalm shows that he recognized the need for personal forgiveness, even when the problems of his life were caused by someone else. He asked God for mercy when in trouble, but also forgive his sins. David said:

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sins. (Psalm 25:14–18, italics mine)

God is not a genie in a bottle. He is there for His people, but not our slave. David knew that God is God and we are mere sheep in His pasture, recipients of His kindness yet deserving wrath because of our sin.

David’s son, Solomon, also realized his place before God. He could see that even in justice and righteousness there is wickedness. Rarely does a person have pure motives and does anything without selfishness being part of it. He recognized the need for tying God’s mercy to confession of sin. He also realized that God allowed trials in our lives to show us how easily we depart from genuine faith:

I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. (Ecclesiastes 3:17–18)

This is part of the good news because in realizing my sin I am given grace. Every time God blesses me with truth about my tendency to selfishness, He also blesses me with forgiveness and cleansing. This does not happen with temporary faith for that cry for deliverance is only about using God to make me more comfortable, not more godly.

Paul also recognized this truth. He wrote to Timothy about the care of widows and said this:

She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. (1 Timothy 5:5–6)

I am not a widow nor a king, but I know that God wants me to rely on Him for all this life as well as eternal life. He will comfort me in trials because He is good, not as a reward for mere temporary faith that seeks Him to get me out of trouble.

I always thought that this come-and-go faith was a trait of unbelievers but can see that I can fall into it as well. This is a sin and in grace, He provides the answer: If I confess my sins, He is faithful and just to forgive me my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), whether He makes the trial go away or gives me grace to endure it!

APPLY: It is common these days to pray for relief from this pandemic, the end of the threat and a return to ‘normal’ life. Reasons for praying it vary though. Sometimes I want my life to return to normal and am thinking selfishly. Sometimes my mind is on caregivers, seniors, those without jobs and those who are struggling. Solomon said trials reveal our hearts. It does, yet at the same time, how do pity and compassion fit in? What is the will of God for this world-wide epidemic? I need to pray for His will to be done rather than ask Him to indulge my selfishness.

My father and my Father

Often I tell others that our view of our earthly father will affect our understanding of our heavenly Father, yet I must heed my own words. My earthly father was told I would not live past age 16, so he hardly ever said no. Most of what I wanted was not evil but self-indulgent, like a couple of horses and the use of the family car. However, it put the notion in my head that if I ask God, He will eventually give me whatever I want.

Theoretically, it is easy enough to distinguish between asking for something good and evil. Verses like these even encourage Christians to keep asking . . .

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7–11)

But in practice, I’m blessed by the “good gifts” only in the sense of how God defines good, not how my old self defines it. If I set my mind on some selfish “good” thing, that old nature can be like a bulldog with a bone, even when my Christian faith and new nature in Christ says I’m being selfish.

I can see how this could go the other way too. Those who had abusive fathers could sometimes think God is mean, or those who had irresponsible and uncaring fathers could fear that God did not love them or care about their lives. The Word of God says otherwise, and the rational mind argues that those ideas are not true, but deep inside, doubt and unbelief sometimes cloud reality.

Blaming dad isn’t the route to take. When I fall into a false view of God, I need to review what my heavenly Father has done in my life and what He says about Himself. I also need to confess my blame-shifting too. I cannot hang on to those sinful and selfish “I wants” using those childish misconceptions as an excuse to stay locked in to them. God is my Father, and as good as my father was to me, my heavenly Father has far more in mind than pleasing me for a mere sixteen years. His goals are eternal and life-changing . . .   

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:1–3)

He protects and cares for me, but does not want me to be a slave to my old way of life. “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:17–19)

Those “futile ways” may have seemed fine at the time, but whenever I step backward into them, I find myself in a trap that I cannot get out of by my own efforts. Whenever any “I wants” take over, instead of rejoicing that Christ is my Lord and Savior, I am enslaved to selfishness and begin to lose confidence in God. At that point, He bids me to bring it all to Him and leave it all with Him.

I also need to focus on the fact that the blood of Christ was shed so I can be free of such things. If the loss of those “I wants” is difficult, I need to remember that Jesus said, “Not my will but Thine be done” and also that I now belong to His family and His Father.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15–17)

Our Heavenly Father will not indulge selfishness, but He does make His children heirs of all things. Besides, if God said yes to everything I ask for now, I would soon be a slave to self-indulgence. By saying no, I might feel a temporary loss, but the gain is eternal.

Thankfulness includes people

For the past few weeks I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal. Each night I write (in point form) those things for which I am thankful. After reading the devotional verses and thoughts from Truth for Today this morning, I’m afraid to go back and look at my journal entries.

The reading didn’t outright say it, but I have the distinct impression that whatever a person is thankful for says much about the condition of their spirit before God.

Here is the Scripture passage for today:

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. (Philippians 1:3-7)

Paul was thankful for the people he worked with, had fellowship with, including those he knew had made only an initial commitment to Jesus Christ. He was also thankful for those who prayed for him, and for all who were members of the family of God by grace. There is no mention here, or elsewhere in the Bible, that he ever thanked God for good food, a nice home, or any material things. Paul was thankful for what lasts forever, including the grace of God and the souls of people. I’m not sure my list has the same priorities.

The reading today convicts me too. I’ve rewritten it in a personalized way, which is how God speaks to me using these words.

A thankful heart is essential for true spiritual service. If I am trying to serve the Lord without gratitude in my heart for what He’s done for me, then I am serving in the flesh with improper motives. When I am thankful, I realize that God has a cause for everything that happens, so I will not grumble. But if I am serving externally, legalistically, or ritualistically I will not find very many things to appreciate because I am not grateful for the things God has already done for me.

Do I have a thankful heart? Am I overwhelmed with thanksgiving for what God has done? If I am, then I will be free from bitterness or resentment toward God or anyone else.

I have much to be thankful for, but I am aware that the devil often tempts me by saying, “You deserve better than that. . . .” When he does, I must make sure that I remember how much God has done, including putting me into His family who also serve Him and making them part of my life and ministry.

I know that God wants me to be thankful for the temporary stuff too, but my list needs to reflect what I know about eternity. If my focus is only on the here and now, it could mean that I’m becoming self-indulgent about the blessings and need to get my priorities back in line with His.

I’m my own worst enemy

Even though Paul wrote that a Christian’s battle is “not against flesh and blood” some days it seems like it. I don’t mean the flesh and blood of other people; I’m talking about my own.

My enemies are “the world, the flesh, and the devil” not always in that order. The devil with his lies appeals to my flesh with its desires and these conflict with the Holy Spirit speaking to my spirit about obedience. Stir in the circumstances in my world, and the war begins.

Today’s temptation is a pity party; turn inward and feel sorry for myself. My face is swollen, black and blue, and hard as a stone. It hurts only a little yet I’m having trouble thinking about anything else. I’m not to neglect it (ice, heat, antibiotics, rest, etc.) yet the Holy Spirit isn’t about to sanction a full-blown, poor-me day.

This doesn’t seem like a big deal. What’s wrong with curling up in a ball and indulging myself? Not a great deal unless the prayers I would otherwise pray today don’t get prayed. Not a great deal unless this is a pattern of life that the Lord would like changed.

I once had an art teacher who went out winter and summer to paint landscapes. After showing a painting he’d done outside at minus 40 degrees, we wondered why he bothered. He said, “If I let the weather keep me from painting, pretty soon I will never go out to paint.”

His words echo back now and then because they apply to all my procrastination. If I let my mood keep my from cleaning the house, pretty soon I will never clean it. It I let my seeming lack of imagination keep me from creating, pretty soon I will never create. If I let my aches and pains keep me from serving others or even praying for them, pretty soon I will never serve or even pray.

Paul also struggled with this flesh vs. spirit thing. He wrote about it in Romans 7:

I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:21-25)

For some, the answer might be to pretend that this conflict is not there. “Oh, I’m fine. I can do everything, no problem.” Paul didn’t do that. He acknowledged that his flesh had other ideas than what God wanted. He realized that this was the condition of being a Christian still on earth; we are stuck with this old nature and since it still wants to run the show, we need to battle it with the power God gives us. This power is found in Jesus Christ, my Lord. He will give me what I need to live for Him, no matter what is going on in my life.

This power can only come through confession, not “trying harder” or “pulling up my socks” or acting as if there is no problem. Jesus says He will forgive and cleanse me (1 John 1:9). Forgiveness for selfish indulgence is wonderful as it removes that sense of guilt, but cleansing is no less amazing. God not only washes my sin from His records, but opens my life for the power of Christ. Instead of my sinful flesh being in control, I can face each day in the power of the Holy Spirit.

What will that mean this day, in a practical sense? It will mean that I can be genuinely thankful for what is going on in my life (healing, for one thing), and that I can consider others. I may not have the energy or physical strength yet to do any physical service for others, but I can pray for them, maybe even get on the telephone and call a few to encourage them.

As Paul says, in my flesh “dwells no good thing” but I don’t have to live in the bondage of my flesh. Because of Jesus, I can serve the Lord.

Medical update (which I wrote before the above): The stiffness and a dull pain prevented a good night’s sleep. I should have taken one of those big pink pills before retiring. The swelling is hard as a rock today, quite uncomfortable and distracting.
Later addition: However, as the Lord leads me, because of His love and grace, I don’t need to have a pity-party to replace my usual time of prayer.