This Thing Called Faith

As I grow older in life and in Christ, I’ve come to realize that my complacency in faith has been my stronghold for spiritual and natural prosperity.

What is faith? In Hebrews 11:1, we learn that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. I once heard a pastor say, “If you can see it, that ain’t it.” With this scripture and quote in mind, I ask myself “What does it mean to operate in faith?” As a writer, I am strong to writing the vision and making it plain but it’s difficult at times because as I write, I plan. So how do I control that? I understand that my way is not God’s way sometimes.

At the moment, Travis and I have our home up for sale. Currently, he has to commute two hours a day (roundtrip) to work. For our family, it’s an hour commute to church. The distance has prevented us in participating in so many church activities over the years and my husband’s commute has eaten into a lot of our family time. We tired of it. When we put our house on the market in August of 2009, by faith we believed that it would sale by October of 2009. We wrote the vision and mad it plain(literally). We sealed our prayer request in an envelope, prayed over it and tucked it into our bibles. Despite the falling housing market, we believed by faith that God would sell our house by October and you know what? It didn’t sell. I was crushed. We did all that we knew to do. We fasted, prayed and stayed true to God’s word even when the people closest to us told us it couldn’t be done. We wanted desperately to prove the naysayers wrong.

So many times when we are going through, we are quick to wonder if God is testing us like he did Job. I remember immediately rebuking my husband when he made the statement “Satan can hold up your blessing too.” I was like “Noooo. Satan has no authority over us. You’re crazy!” I turned a deaf ear to Travis as he tried to explain. But then God whooped my behind and reminded me of the children of Israel and Moses. The children of Israel’s bondage was a result of constantly disobeying God since creation. Time and time again, God blessed them and time and time again, they became so consumed with earthly riches that they forsook the spiritual.

This is probably why it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom. Everyone doesn’t possess the gift of knowing how to balance spiritual and earthly riches (but that’s a topic for another day)

Moses questioned God his ability to speak to Pharaoh on behalf of the children of Israel (Exodus 3:11). But still through faith, he went. His first encounter Pharaoh wasn’t what we would call a “productive meeting”. Instead of letting them go, Pharaoh punished them by taking away their straw for making bricks causing an already strenuous job to become more difficult. Moses returned to the Lord and asked him (in B’s terms) “How you gon send me out there and get the people into more trouble?” Exodus 5:22-23. God quickly comforted Moses by saying (in B’s terms) “Don’t worry boo. I got this. You just wait and see.” (Exodus 6:1). Then God reminded him about the covenant that he made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God comforted Moses and reassured him. When Moses tried to talk to children of Israel, they wouldn’t listen to him because they were angry about Pharaoh’s punishment. And let’s be honest, some of us would have been too.

It took several meetings with Pharaoh, nine plagues and the death of Pharaoh’s son before the children of Israel were set free. In my eyes, it looks like it would have been easier for God to send a big quake to swallow up Pharaoh and his men and that would have been it. But God wanted to show Pharaoh and the children of Israel his might and his power.

This was what Travis was trying to get me to understand. No, satan does not have any power over us but as we wait in faith, he will try to deter our beliefs by placing snares in our path. Our ultimate deliverance is based on how strong we stand in our relationship with God. The children of Israel wondered in the wilderness for 40 years because of their staggering beliefs in God. They were full of complaints and took God’s blessings and miracles for granted. I have guilty of doing that as well. Hm, I wonder. Am I the hold up on my family’s blessings?

Faith is about confidence in God not yourself. It’s about still trusting that God knows what best for you knowing even if he doesn’t move when you want him to. Faith is about controlling the flesh and maintaining your emotions. Faith is about not going by what you see. Faith is not about meditating on your problems on a daily basis. Faith is about living life normally until your miracle happens. Faith is trust in God.

Strong faith is trust in God.
Little faith, you just made it harder.
Some faith, you won’t succeed.
So have faith, stand true and believe.

My house will sell when God says so.

You Read It Here First
~B~