Today we continue our new series entitled, “Press through it!”
A few days ago I introduced you to the following passage. Let’s go back to it today.
“We have this treasure from God, but we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This is to show that the amazing power we have is from God, not from us. We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We often don’t know what to do, but we don’t give up. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed. So we constantly experience the death of Jesus in our own bodies, but this is so that the life of Jesus can also be seen in our bodies. We are alive, but for Jesus we are always in danger of death, so that the life of Jesus can be seen in our bodies that die.”
(2 Corinthians 4:7-11 ERV)
Yesterday I highlighted the following statement again: “We often don’t know what to do, but we don’t give up.” I talked about trusting God, even when you don’t know what to do. Today we will continue to flow in this vein.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Faith is tied to God’s promises.
a) Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is a confident assurance that God will do what He said, and that faith maintains this assurance even without the benefit of sense-realm evidence to support it. Further, not only does faith require that we believe God in the absence of sense-realm evidence to support what He is saying, faith requires that we believe God even when all the sense-realm evidence we have is telling us the contrary. So even when you have a doctor’s report saying one thing, if God told you something else, faith requires that you believe God, even though your belief flies in the face of the doctor’s report. Faith is your confident assurance in God’s Word (whether written or spoken), whether there is evidence to support it or refute it. God expects you to believe what He said and then make decisions based on what you believe, without any regard for the presence or absence of sense-realm evidence. This is how we are called and commanded to live.
b) For you to have faith in what God said or promised, you must know what He said or promised. Faith begins where the will of God is known. If you don’t know what God has said or is saying about your current situation, you don’t know what to have faith in. You cannot release your faith, because God has not spoken. Faith requires you to know. Once God speaks, you can have faith that what He said shall come to pass. Come hell or high-water, God’s promises will always manifest.
2. You can have faith in God, the person, even when you don’t have a promise.
a) While it is true that faith begins where the will of God is known, and it is true that you must know what God said in order to stand on the promise, it is also true that you can have faith in the person while you are waiting on the promise. Allow me to explain. Faith, as most of us know it, is tied to a promise from God. If we don’t know what He said (in His Word) or what He is saying (to us in our situation), then quite honestly, we don’t have anything to have faith in. Faith is tied to something God said or is saying. Faith cannot even begin until the will of God is known. But while we are searching for answers and while we are waiting for God to speak, we can still have faith in the person of God. We can still have a confident assurance that God is up to something and whatever it is, it is going to work out for our good.
b) The Apostle Paul said, “We often don’t know what to do, but we don’t give up.” Even when we don’t know what to do, even when God has not spoken yet, even when we don’t have a promise to stand on, we can still have faith in God. Not faith in WHAT God said, but faith in WHO God is!
c) When you get to the point where you can look in the mirror and say, “Self, I have been through too much with God to give up now. I have seen too much to doubt Him. I have experienced too much question Him. I may not know what God is up to, but I do know that it is going to work out for my good!” When you get to this point in your life, in your walk of faith, you are not moved by challenges or uncertainty. You trust God too much to allow fear, doubt or unbelief to contaminate your faith.
d) Fear tolerated is faith contaminated. You must get to the point where you trust God so much that even when you don’t know what He is doing, you refuse to doubt His commitment towards you. Living this way, you can have faith, even in uncertain situations.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I am the just and I live by faith. I don’t live by what I see with my natural eyes. I live by every Word You speak to me. I believe what You said in Your written Word and what You are saying to me every day by Your Spirit. I live with a confident assurance that every promise You have given me shall come to pass in my life before I die. I am confident and sure. I am sure and certain. I am not moved, swayed or shaken. I believe what You said. Further, in those situations where I do not have a promise yet, where You have not spoken, I still have faith. I may not have faith in the promise, but I have faith in the person. I have faith in God, period. I have been through too much with You, Father, to doubt You. I live by faith and I am not moved by the uncertain! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
