Active Faith
As we approach the last quarter of the year, you are likely to find yourself in one of two groups when it comes to faith. You’re either in the first group, trusting in God to do exactly what He said He was going to do before the end of the year Or (you can be like me half the time) the second group, questioning if maybe (just maybe…) what you were trusting God for might be moved to next year. Though you believe, part of you thinks what you’re waiting for may not happen this year.
What happens if you’re in the second group? Whenever this question comes up in my mind, I think of Sarah. Consider these two scriptures:
And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. Hebrews 11:11
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?. Genesis 8:12
The math just isn’t mathing when I think of these two verses. The Bible says Sarah had faith, but that she also laughed when she heard God’s promise. However, what does make sense is that God ended up doing EXACTLY what He said He was going to do. Even when Sarah laughed, then lied about laughing, even when she pushed her husband to go sleep with her servant. Through all that God’s promise still came to pass. Sarah seemed to have little faith and yet God still fulfilled His promise to her.
On the topic of “INCREASE in Faith”… In Luke 17:5-6 the bible tells us the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” So basically the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith and, Jesus’s response was, all you need is a little bit of faith and wonders will happen.
So what if your little faith seed runs out, then what? One of my favorite things about the Holy Spirit is that He uses the Bible to answer literally any questions we may have. In Romans 10:17 we are told “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. The Word of God could be a sermon, a worship song, reading the Bible or even listening to a friend’s testimony. All these are vehicles we can use to increase our faith. There’s something about watching my friends who were once single, get married to wonderful God fearing partners that helps me believe that God is in my neighborhood, or when I hear Naomi Raine sing “ Believing gets hard when options are few when I can’t see what you’re doin’, I know that you’re proving you’re the God who comes through!”…
As we enter this last quarter of the year my prayer is that God will grant us the grace to hold on to our faith and live out our faith in His Word and promises to us. Work on actively increasing your faith and don’t forget that we serve a God of the 11th hour. May God come through for you in a mindblowing way before this year ends! AMEN!
Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. Joshua 21:45