Published by admin on 26 Jul 2013 at 12:36 pm
FAITH IS TRUST
What exactly is “faith”? Hebrews 11:1 describes it like this: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Simply put, faith is trust. Can faith be real even if you can’t see it? Sure. Can you see ultraviolet light? I can’t, but it’s real and it can be proven to exist, and it can be measured and it has an effect on the physical realm. Faith is proven to exist because it is written in Romans 12:3, For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
It can also be measured, as in “no faith” or “little faith” or “great faith”. How, or rather, IF you use your measure of faith, it will have an effect on the physical realm. Some say faith doesn’t work. Well, that is also covered in Mark 11:23 where Jesus said, For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Those who doubt not in their heart but believe it when they say faith doesn’t work, for THEM, faith doesn’t work. That means the things in the natural realm they are praying to change by faith won’t be changed, and they’re wasting their time praying, simple as that. Well, let me qualify that: faith DID work exactly as Jesus said it would, only they received no benefit from it.
Faith is trust. Let me give you an example: suppose you go to a store which has an automatic door which opens when you approach. Do you walk up and stop and wait? No, you keep walking even though the door is not yet open. You have trust it WILL open before you bang your pretty little nose on it. And sure enough, at the proper time the door opens. After you’ve done this enough times, you just KNOW the door is going to open and you just keep on walking, not giving it another thought.
God wants us to have that kind of trust in the measure of faith He has given us. He doesn’t want us faltering or wavering in the use of our measure of faith. After all, HE gave it to us, it’s God’s own faith, and most importantly, it was HIS decision to give us that faith in the first place. Before you start saying, “I don’t know if I’m worthy to use faith”, remember, it was GOD’S choice to give it to you, and your self-perceived “worthiness” has absolutely nothing to do with it.
If someone gave you a new car, and all you’d ever driven were old junkers, would you say “I don’t think I’m worthy of having a new car”? Would you let it set and turn to rust and never make use of it? Not if you have a brain, you wouldn’t. Well, what if you’ve had credit problems in the past or a repossession or wrecks, would that make any difference? If the giver gives it to you, USE IT!
Trust God, He knows what He’s doing. He created you, remember? He knows what you can and can’t do. And for those things you CAN do, you don’t need faith. You need faith for the things you CAN’T do on your own. So God provided you “FAITH” to make you fail-proof, meaning, He provided the means by which you can do not only what you CAN do, but you can also do what you CAN’T do. Did I make that clear enough?
Most people only trust what they can see, hear, touch, taste and feel, meaning if their senses can’t pick it up, then it must not exist. But there are others, like hopefully YOU, who are able to go beyond their natural senses and see into the faith realm and can reach into it and lay hold onto the “unseen” and bring it into the natural realm, into SUBSTANCE. Refer again to Hebrews 11:1, Now faith IS…. I’m reminded of the words of a past President who said at his impeachment trial, “It depends on what your definition of IS is…” If YOUR definition of “faith” leaves out the “IS”, then you’ve rendered it useless. It isn’t, “faith WAS”, or “faith wants to be”, or “faith WILL be”. No, it’s “FAITH IS” That means faith exists in an ever present-tense state, like God himself. God IS, eternally existing, ever present, omnipotent, and the faith He gave you comes from an inexhaustible source, namely Himself. That means it doesn’t matter what time you make use of faith, early morning, daytime, evening or late at night, faith IS. It doesn’t matter how big the obstacle is that you send faith against, it SHALL prevail against that obstacle, IF you meet the conditions set forth in Mark 11:23.
You see, you have to leave YOUR abilities and shortcomings out of the situation. YOU are not faith. Faith is a GIFT from God unto you, a tool that is available for you to use to line your life and your circumstances up with God’s will. God will not make you use faith, that’s YOUR choice, like getting in a car and driving it. You can get in a car and just sit there and look through the windows, but it will not take you where you want to go until you start it and put it in gear and drive it. Faith won’t help you unless you USE it. Faith is your servant, like a car. If you have the key, it’s ready to serve you. Though I realize some cars make YOU the servant, in that they break down and you’re using all your resources just to keep them working, faith isn’t like that. You don’t serve faith, faith serves YOU, and Mark 11:23-24 is the key.
Ok, we’ve established you have faith, and you have the key, now what? The rest is up to you. First off, trust God that He made the right decision giving you faith, because He did. Trust that the instructions the Lord Jesus gave us in Mark 11:23-24 work, because they do. Trust faith to do what God designed it to do, because it will. Believe in your heart and doubt not, and tell those mountains in your life to MOVE and just keep on walking like they’ve already moved. Why? Because FAITH IS TRUST.