The Force of Faith

Truly the Scriptures highlights, and emphasizes the place of faith in our relationship with the Creator. This was brought out to me again this morning whilst spending time with the Lord through His Word. I was reading the portion of Scripture found in Mark chapter 5, where some great miracles take place; the demoniac of the Gadarenes, the healing of the woman with a haemorrhage and finally, the raising up from the death of Jairus' daughter.

My main interest lay in the account of the raising up of Jairus' daughter from the dead. Jesus was delayed by the encounter with the woman with the haemorrhage, and the Scripture records Mark as pointing out that hardly had Jesus finished blessing the woman's healing, when certain people came from Jairus' house to say that his daughter was already dead, and there was no more need to trouble Jesus.

Mark goes on to record that as soon as Jesus heard this report, he immediately turns to Jairus, and says, "Do not be afraid, only believe". It seems to me as though that is all the Lord requires of us, to "only BELIEVE! ( emphasis mine ).

Hebrews chapter 11, and verse 6 underscores this point about faith being eminent with God. "Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God! Therefore, when we turn this verse onto its head, it would say, "With faith, all things are POSSIBLE!", which only mirrors Jesus' words found recorded in all four gospels repeatedly.

So the question now is, how can God's people learn to have faith, and only believe, in the daily routines of life?

Using this knowledge, understanding and realization that God highly values faith, how do practice faith in daily living?

How does the belief and practice of faith come in when we face a situation whereby other people's decisions impact us negatively? Perhaps the short answer would be to take it to the Lord in prayer, commit the matter to Him, wait to hear from Him from His word about our response in in such a situation, and see where we ourselves are part of the problem, repent where necessary, and resolve to do our part in being part of the solution.

Faith in God and His word is impossible when our consciousness is filled with fear thoughts, doubts and other forms of negativity. Faith is also harder when negative emotions, especially fear and anxiety encroach.

Again, perhaps that's why after Moses' death, God spent a one-on-one coaching and mentoring session with the new Israelite leader - Joshua - to prepare him to face a gruelling adventure of entering the "promised land" which at that time did not look so promising!

And God did not spend time coaching Joshua on battle strategies or organizational designs. Actually, that would come later as you read through to the end of the book of Joshua. God chose to deal with the issues of the heart first, chiefly the area of the mind. This is contained in the celebrated verses of Joshua chapter 1, verses 8 & 9.

How many times, over the years, have I come back to these verses, and was renewed with courage and confidence to face adversity.

Faith is holding on to the profession of our faith. The profession of our faith involves a combined effort of mind and speech engaging with God through His word. However, the main challenge has always remained bringing our private world of meditation and confession upon God's word, into the crucible of daily living.

Bringing God's word into the crucible of living means that I am constantly "waiting" upon Him, and His word, and seeking to bring His word to bear upon the circumstances I confront, or am confronted with.

In my office, or at the workplace, this practice of faith would mean, however challenging people and processes and tasks are, I can be at peace knowing that God is in charge. And because I have this living consciousness of God being in charge, I can be calm just trusting Him for wisdom for the moment, even the wisdom of knowing when to remain silent, and just doing nothing.

Faith in God at the workplace also means that I refuse to fear men! This refusal to fear men means I do not become a men-pleaser, and instead, walk by faith to be a GOD-pleaser.