FAITH IN WHAT?

FAITH IN WHAT?

Scripture says, “Without Faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6) Many sermons have been dedicated to the topic of faith. We know that Jesus was constantly disappointed by the lack of faith in the people He met. We know that some miracles didn’t occur because of the absence of faith.

Faith seems to be the glue of scripture and the doorway to God. What is Faith? “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1) So faith is our trust in what we cannot see, but hope for.

I’ve heard many a preacher say that all you have to do is believe enough and it will happen. That seems to be faith. It sure requires faith, but is it really faith? If I believe hard enough that I could fly, will it happen? How about if I have faith that I could live under water like a fish? Seems ridiculous, but isn’t anything possible to those who believe?

Maybe we need to rethink this faith thing. Don’t get me wrong, I am a man of faith and have seen it in action and wholeheartedly believe it. Before you say I’m contradicting myself, let me explain.

Faith is more than just believing in something you cannot see. Faith is more than simply brainwashing yourself that something ‘is’ when it ‘is not’. How many have heard folks say to “call things as though you believe and not as they are”?  These are the people with disease ravaging their body, but instead of going to the doctor, they pretend, ‘by faith’, that it doesn’t exist.

Still, many more preacher teach that God is subject to our faith. I have heard it taught that if we have rock solid faith, God ‘MUST’ act. If we have too little, God’s hands are tied. They draw this from Jesus’ statement when He said “And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.” (Matthew 13:58)

Now, tell me if I am wrong, but does the verse read, ‘did not’, or ‘could not’? The difference is that ‘could not’ supports the theory that God’s hands were tied, while ‘did not’ supports the truth of Hebrews 11:6; “Without Faith, it is impossible to please God” Seems if God/Jesus was not pleased by their lack of faith, there was not healing.

Remember the man who told Jesus to heal his son, ‘IF” Jesus could? (Mark 9:20-24)

So they brought him (the boy). When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

This man obviously did not believe, but Jesus’ hand, obviously were not tied because the boy was healed in spite of his father’s unbelief.

What about Paul, who was converted personally by the resurrected Jesus? Paul wrote about 2/3 of the new testament and saw visions of Heaven. If anyone had faith it was Paul. In 2 Corinthians 2:7, Paul explains that he had a ‘thorn in the flesh’, a deformity of some kind. He states that (by faith) he asked God 3 times to remove it, but Jesus said ‘no’, “My grace is sufficient enough for you.”

By all accounts, the very same preachers who espouse these false teachings would have to say that Paul lacked faith, hence didn’t get healed and that Jesus was wrong for heaing the unbelieving man’s son.

You have to understand that, yes, the Kingdom of God ‘does’ operate by Faith, but that also God is sovereign. God is not controlled by the desires of men, no matter how much ‘faith’ they can manage to muster up! So what is having faith worth then?

The whole premise of faith is where, I believe, folks go astray. Faith is ‘NOT’ in something, but in ‘Some One’; God! You should not put your faith in faith, but your faith in God alone. I’ve heard people say, ‘Such and such will happen because I believe and have faith’. This is counting on how much faith they have to make it happen.

Scripture says that even in you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move a mountain (Matthew 17:20) Why? Because it is not your faith that moves the mountain, but God; even if He sees it is small at the time. God will reward your faith and stretch your faith so that it will grow, but make no mistake, God is the one who decides when and if He will move.

So, pray and have pray with faith, but ‘TRUST’ God with the answer. Some prayers may not turn out the way you wanted, but if your faith is in God, know that He has a reason and it’s is not necessarily linked to your lack of faith or some other barrier. Free yourself to love and trust God by faith and not always trying to ‘prove’ to God how much faith you can build up.

That’s not really faith, it’s self brainwashing and worse, manipulation. It is trying to control God to get what you want instead of believing that God knows what is best. When you can learn this lesson, you can truly “Walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

God Bless

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