Guest speaker Yan Hadley spoke last night about the importance of faith in the life of the Christian. Jesus died so that we may have life; the Biblical principle is of a God who freely gives us all things (Rom 8:32) and who became poor for our sakes so that our lives may be enriched. (2 Cor 8:9) Our part in this participation in life is to commit to trust even though we may not comprehend.
Often, we are slow to believe God’s incredible promises. The Israelites, on the brink of the Promised land, were slow to believe; the disciples on the road to Emmaus were equally slow to grasp all that Jesus was telling them. Prov 3:5 reminds us that we need to trust in the Lord; the church is robbed if we try to ‘work it out’, for we need to accept by faith all that God offers rather than trying to reason it all out; we have to take thoughts captive if we are to experience God’s promises. Our minds must be renewed (Rom 12:1-2), for we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16) and need to progress in faith to see the greater things Jesus promised.
We need an unswerving trust in God if we are to grow spiritually, and this will involve faith. Faith can be dormant, diverted or dependent, however. A dormant faith is never allowed to be stretched. A diverted faith will believe anything: feelings, fears, what others say, what circumstances indicate. A dependent faith will accept what God says as truth and will accept this whole-heartedly.
God wants us to expect the unexpected and allow Him to use us to touch those we know. He wants us to believe the unbelievable, for ‘all things are possible if you believe.’ Abraham, Joshua and Gideon all discovered the key to success lay with faith. We need to choose to bless the Lord at all times (Ps 34:1) and to be committed to the life of faith.