The Ministry

Faith and What it is to Me

Faith is a word that is commonly spoken amongst Christians and non Believers for just about any and every occassion. For example, "don't be afraid Son, have faith that you will do well in your test today" or "I don't understand what has happened in the past week but I have faith that somehow God will interfere in someways" or "C'mon! We can beat these guys. Pucker up and have faith!"

Yet in the Bible, the dynamics of 'Faith' has been frequently communicated and instructed by God, the Prophets, Jesus, His Disciples to encourage, motivate and console nations, followers and the early Church communities. For Christians, 'faith' is an unconditional gift from God. Like all other gifts blessed and freely given by God, we can do nothing deserving to 'win faith' from God. Faith has been delivered into our hands and it is at our disposal to develop it, put it to practice or risk losing it.

All of us have witnessed how faith filled people remained peaceful in times of prolonged or temporal trials. Perhaps it is worth sharing ,what I believe is a useful reminder about faith in God. Nothing unheard before, but when it is internalized and reflected upon with reference to Holy Scriptures, the interpretation of faith becomes more alive.

Faith in God = Trust in God.

When faced with what appears to be unceasing sufferings, double or triple whammies, do we lose heart when we do not see a solution forthcoming? Our individual answers will reflect the level of willingness we have right now to surrender our need for control to God.

Do we trust God only when God reveals His solutions to us?

Can we trust God without knowing where He is leading us and what He has in mind for us?

The Old and New Testaments bear many accounts of Israel and early Church communities demanding for miracles, signs and wonders from God before continuing their spiritual journeys. Similarly, the Bible gives many testimonies of ordinary people responding unconditionally and readily to God's call without knowing what God will do for them and for the lives of those whom God has placed in their charge.

Only God's singular promise of divine providence was enough for these faith filled people who eventually became God's leaders. Imagine receiving a message from God which says, "Be not afraid. Go! I will always be with you" or "Be confident, patient and wait upon the Lord. Make sure you obey all my commandments and meditate upon my Laws day and night and you will not be discouraged or afraid".

With no sight of a near solution to life's problems, would such simple messages be assuring enough for us? People of faith will give an unconditional 'yes'.

They are able to say "yes" because of an important dimension of spiritual life - Total Obedience to God. They recognize the Lord as the Divine Master and Author of their lives while they are mere servants called to be good and faithful stewards. Their relationship with God was put right from the beginning.

It appears natural to ask God for a glimpse of the solutions He has arranged for us before His time. To do so, however, may lead us into the temptation of wrestling control of our lives from God if we realize that we will not be receiving what we expect from Him. When that happens, we will not be totally obedient to God's promise; ie. we obey only when we are assured that we will receive what we expect and at our expected time.

So to conclude, complete obedience in God comes from complete Trust in God. To build our trust in God, we need to read our Bibles daily and reflect upon God's providence for the generations before us and for our generations today. God is constant. He does not change in His promises to our forefathers and to us.

Where there is Trust, there is Faith.

GOD bless!
neil

posted by Neil @ 9:20 PM