Living a Life of Faith #2
Faith is not trusting the seen but believing the unseen. It is not looking at circumstances and probabilities, but to Him who knows no limits to resources and power. Abraham demonstrated this when at the age of 75 he was told that he and Sarah would have a son from whom the world would be blessed. For twenty-five years Abraham walked with the promise of God while his body aged.
Finally, at the age of 100 Isaac was born. Paul writes in Romans 12:18-21, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
God knows our tendency to shrink back when facing the unknown and unseen. He thus gives us promises, promises backed by His character and resources, that we can cling to as anchors for our souls in times of trials. These Scriptural promises are the bedrock of our faith that keeps us believing when hope is gone.
Here is what A.W. Tozer said concerning walking by faith: “We must remember that God always acts like Himself. He has never at any time anywhere in the vast universe acted otherwise than in character with His infinite perfections. This knowledge should be a warning to the enemies of God, and it cannot but be an immense consolation to His friends.
“Though God dwells in the center of eternal mystery, there need be no uncertainty about how He will act in any situation covered by His promises. These promises are infallible predictions. God will always do what He has promised to do when His conditions are met. And His warnings are no less predictive: “The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous” (Psalm 1:5).
“In the light of all this how vain is the effort to have faith by straining to believe the promises in the Holy Scriptures. A promise is only as good as the one who made it, but it is as good, and from this knowledge springs our assurance. By cultivating the knowledge of God we at the same time cultivate our faith. Yet while so doing we look not at our faith but at Christ, its author and finisher. Thus the gaze of the soul is not in, but out and up to God. So the health of the soul is secured.” [i]
J.O. Sanders said, “God encourages us to ask as freely for the impossible as the possible, since to Him all difficulties are the same size–less than Himself.” Trust Him! Trust His promises!!
“Great faith isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It’s simply taking God at His word and taking the next step.” Joni Eareckson Tada
[i] The Incredible Christian by A.W. Tozer, Tyndale House Publishing, Wheaton, Illinois 1964 p. 28
Developing Kingdom Leaders - Tom Yeakley 