How can someone have faith in God? Is it fact or feeling? Or how does one know he already believes in God? I had such questions on my mind when I was just starting up as a disciple. When I found that the Lord’s disciples too had the same questions, I found, I was not in bad shape or in bad company. They too had many questions but Jesus did not answer them by explaining their faith. He pointed them to the Source, who alone can grow such faith. I was always wary whether I am growing up in faith or not, whether I was lacking or inadequate of faith. When I found that Moses too had caused the Lord to burn in indignation because of his false humility, I thought this is not faith to have faith in my abilities or gifts. Rather God through Jesus demonstrating what faith is, said, Faith is this, that you believe in Him whom He has sent! That was not abstract! That was practical and downright simple even for a child.

One time I was teaching a bunch of boys about faith and I was using all the things I have learned about faith. As I was looking at their eyes, they seem to be covered with scales that they did not grasp one word I have said. Taking their attention by changing my tone and topic, I said, you know boys, faith is very simple. Forget all that I have just said, but only do this, believe in Jesus, look to Him for all your needs including daily food and protection from sickness. This I did, because true faith “should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5). Again in the Gospels and to the apostles, faith is not an abstract thing, Jesus worked by faith. He had nothing to start with in His ministry when it was time to conduct His conferences and discipleship ministry. He was penniless! But that does not mean He lacked. There is a difference between having no money but having everything you need and having money but lacking all the things you need. Jesus does not need money in order to fulfill His calling as much as the power of God and His direction in His life.

Faith looks to the Source

We see this at the start of His ministry. He left his family, set aside time to seek the Lord for the direction of His ministry, where to start, who are the twelve to be called with Him, and how to do it. He could have gone to a ministry center and the theological college of the Pharisees but He did not choose that. He first sought what God wants Him to do. Now I am not against those who feel called to ministry and then set-off to go to Bible College or Seminary. That is good. That is where you are being called, then go! Here the writers gave no comments as to what particular questions and directions Jesus asked the Father to show Him, but for 40 days in the wilderness, as Moses did in Mt. Sinai, Jesus received the blue print for His ministry. How wonderful! For thirty years, He had been preparing for the cross, and just for the space of 3 years, all of Israel and the neighboring Kingdoms will see the greatest demonstrations of power that ever happened on earth during that time. They have no advertising agencies, no promos to give to their partners but God was faithful for those few bands of men who for three years shook the foundations of the very society they were in. Rightly did Will Durant say of His life, “Caesar tried to change men by changing institutions but Christ changed institutions by changing men.”

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5:4-5

Faith is not really in our faith, or in our abilities that we can perform signs and wonders nor in our knowledge to do things efficiently. It is not also faith to simply have prospered with riches, honor and position. True faith as Christ has demonstrated to us is having faith in God that He alone wields all the power in the universe so that when He says go to Kalinga and preach, there is no one, not even the powers of hell, which could hinder you in accomplishing your mandate. This is the victory that overcomes the world because it is not founded on your wisdom or on your knowledge but established by hearing the Word of God speak to you. Without the Lord having spoken to Jesus that it is time to go and preach, He could still have been churning out furniture, tables, chairs and benches for his neighbors. He did not try to impact the world but from basically living in his local, He caused such an impact that reverberated around the world when He died and arose from His death.

God can live in someone unbeknownst to many until the day it is ripe for them to declare the praises of God in their lips as Jesus did. Therefore do not fear, nor be dismayed that you have not received your specific mandate yet. Wherever you are stationed right now, do as the Lord says. If you are a janitor, why not sweep the streets like Michelangelo painted the Sistine chapel? If you are a carpenter, why not shape the wood and smoothen its surface for the comforts of your customers? If you are a teacher, why not mold the minds of your students to become Christlike? Our present position is not permanent, they are chairs which we are to occupy for sometime in a room, then change chairs again until we reached the position which the Lord has actually meant it for us. Faith looks beside the veil that is not foreseen by the natural eyes, it is taking what is found tomorrow into our time today. It is not subject to circumstances but is subject to the will of God so that whenever it wavers, we need to check on it if it is in line with what God has said. That is why it is called faith, because it “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval” (Hebrews 11:1-2).

Faith is the only thing that pleases God

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”  Hebrews 11:6

It is faith that pleases God the most. Without a day to day faith in Him, how can we even trust our salvation to Him? This is the main reason why there are unbelieving believers in the Church, they confess that they are saved but when fear and failure suddenly knocks at their door, they cringe and cry out obscene and foul words instead of going straight through it and overcoming it. Sometimes our very circumstance can seem to kill us, just think about the exploits of Noah, who preached to his neighbors and people that a flood is coming but they deemed him out of his mind. Between the time that Noah was 500 years old till the time that the flood came when He was 600 years old, he was informed by the Lord to do all that he could to prepare for the flood and to warn the people of the judgment of God.

Noah labored with faith having not seen any rains or even flood waters; he did not reject the Word of God as preposterous but strengthened himself in the Lord knowing that He is just and true. Matter of factly the Scriptures clearly testify of his life, that “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; [and] Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). And who could have thought that a liar would be blessed with a promised child from whom the Creator would come and manifest Himself on earth? Abraham, in spite of all his weaknesses became the friend of God and saw the fulfillment of His promises in his life when everything in his power to do ceased. God waited until the time that it was impossible for him to move that He fulfilled His promise of giving them the child, Paul writing,

“In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:18-22

Faith is standing on the Word of God

Faith is the work of God that is why He constantly redeems and restores even that which is useless. Faith is the substance of a being; everyone on earth has some amount of faith within them. You even have a belief that even God’s gravity will continue to exist and not pull you out suddenly. The Greek word for assurance or substance translated in Hebrews 11:1 is hupostasis which actually means “standing under” or to simplify it better, faith is actually standing on God’s Word, or aligning ourselves in accordance to His Word.

This is the reason why verse 3 says “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). We have the proof, the evidence and the substance that everything in this world was prepared by the Word of God, He spoke and out came the creation! Now think about this wonder, God only used His hand when He created man but every part of the creation was done by His spoken Word. It is therefore right that we must take hold of the Word of life, everything written in it and including words of prophecies His servants may have spoken to us because it is His Word that builds us up. His words flow like life, ministering to those who have learned to abide in His Word, because in Him was life and this life was the light of men.

Faith leads to action

Faith is the power of God and there is no one in the Scripture who believed in God and remained oblivious to what was right, true and just. Therefore those who claim to have faith should lead them to action to do as their faith suggest them to. We see this among the saints of old,

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;  it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.

By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.  By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the first-born might not touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.” Hebrews 11:17-31

As one can glean from all of these examples, those who have faith are led into action by their faiths. No one can actually profess to have faith and then do nothing about the evil surrounding them. One cannot simply watch as children die of abortion, abuse of drugs, raped by gangsters or kidnapped and made to beg for life. Everyone must have to do something of the faith they have received, they are either moved to action or they bury it altogether even the little light they have. James therefore says, “What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” (James 2:14-16).

So when I heard about a woman who spoke up that she is working so that his husband can live by faith. That led me to inevitably distrust this guy who forgot to give covering to his wife. It is the man’s job to work for his family and raise that family! How can one say he lives by faith and yet forces his wife to work for his food? Faith is not a license to be lazy. Working for food is not the lack of faith, rather it is evidence that one has faith in God that through his work, God will provide for his food. Just as a farmer will sow his seeds on a farm and trust God that He will grow the seeds and provide the needed sunlight and rainwater, we must also trust God that for all our needs, He will provide for us. Thus, even our faith in God determines the provisions that we receive. Those who have faith will not be overly conscious over what they have given to God as long as the King receives His due reward, the nations. They will not give in order to get more, but in order to give more for the Kingdom to advance and take on the nations.

“Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.” Psalm 2:8

Faith leads to freedom

Who could be a freer people than the people of God? If we profess faith, then our very being has inseparable possession of the promises of God. True faith cannot be overtaken by a more persuasive argument no matter how ridiculous one may look. Faith has its devotion centered on God and its very core being is a living power that moves mountains. It is like an engine to a car. One pervasive delusion among Christians is our inability to separate between what is faith and what is belief. You see, one can say he believes in God just as demons do, but to have faith in God, that becomes a different matter because mental assent can be easily persuaded by a more convincing proof or argument but faith does not.

A person with true faith has an inner conviction, a vision of the place where God wants him to be. Just as Abraham at first almost disbelieved the voice of the Lord, yet he followed Him, and the trials of his faith in the Lord transformed his mental belief of God into a firm force in his life until such that one can truly say, Abraham believed in God in hope against hope until the fulfillment of His promises to him. The purpose of the wilderness experience for Israel is to transform their beliefs into a firm conviction that can move mountains. Few however went out of that generation victorious because these two saw that their enemies were bread in their hands and they could take them anytime. They have stood under God’s Word that He could bring them to the Promised Land and resolutely stood by that promise. The Scriptures tell,

“Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.  “If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey.  “Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” Numbers 14:6-9

While the congregation was grumbling for fear of the sons of Anak, these two can’t wait to take on the giants and even confessed that they will be bread for them! It is just such instances that the Lord tests us. And almost 2 out of 10 of the divine ratio shows people who will inherit their Promised Land; the hope however is that upon learning from these, we can already achieve a greater proportion because they have taught us the way. Every obstacle, every opposition and fear that tries to hijack the purposes of God in your life when approached rightly would enable you to soar higher in your walk with God. Trials are doors to enter freedom. God is allowing every trial in our lives for the purpose of freeing us. No one will be able to attain his spiritual destiny until he has been set free. The wilderness was placed to test our hearts whether we will drive the plow or continue looking back into our old lives. As Paul had said, we are delivered through the tribulations that we suffer because in them, we are comforted by God, afflicted in every way but rejoicing because God has considered as worthy to suffer for His sake.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

“For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know. For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor should be in vain.” 1 Thessalonians 3:4-5

Faith releases God to work

Just as faith is not faith in ourselves but in God; it is obvious that true faith is obedience to the One who can do things Himself. Faith is the only thing that pleases God and releases Him to work on our behalf. This is why He exhorted often, “believe Me” if you believe in Moses, you will believe Me (John 5:46) and “This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29). Because Mary believed that Jesus can do all things, she asked Him to make the wine. Although Jesus confessed that it is not yet His time, her faith in Him so stirred the Lord to actually perform the miracle of transforming water into wine. He even said, “why do you involve me?” And then Mary oblivious of His statement simply told the servants to “do whatever He tells them.” Here we find Mary’s faith actually caused Jesus to perform a miracle although it was not time yet. Did you get that?  Your faith in Him releases Him to perform wonders in your life, to succor you in your afflictions, to release you from captivity and bondage, to heal you from sickness and diseases and to enlighten you in your darkness. Jesus does not lack anything. He meets you according to your faith. Let us rejoice and ask Him to strengthen us that we may not lack faith but be strong in the Lord.