By Wanda Davidson
"The just shall live by faith," Hebrews 10:38.
My journey of faith began as a young child only six years old. In church one night during an invitation, God began to deal with my heart about letting Him become my Saviour. Sixty-two years later, I still recall that mental battle vividly. After a few minutes of God’s deep pleading, I said yes and ran to the altar. Immediately after praying, I knew that God had kept His promise. Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”
That simple step of faith had given me eternal life just as God said!
Just a few short months later, God again gave me a lesson in faith. As a child, I had been plagued with nightmares. One night after awakening from a nightmare, I started to yell for my dad, but God reminded me that I was His child now. Was I going to trust Him? Earlier that week, I had heard Proverbs 21:31b “ . . . safety is of the Lord.” I lay in bed knowing that my dad would do everything in his power to protect me, but ultimately with or without Dad, my safety was from the Lord. That night, I promised God that I would trust Him for my safety for the rest of my life. The nightmares stopped! I have gone back to that night many times in my walk with God and can testify to His faithfulness through every fear-filled encounter.
Faith is the very foundation of a Christian’s life. We are saved by faith.
Our prayers are answered by faith. Matthew 21:22, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Faith gives us hope. Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Without faith, we cannot please God! Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Faith will cause us to work. In Mark 2, four men brought their sick friend to Jesus because they knew that He could help him. Verse 5 says, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”
To have faith requires a decision on our part as well as a profound understanding of who God is. Corrie ten Boom said, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” When God sent Moses to the people of Israel, he said to tell them that I AM hath sent me unto you. What a name! I like to think of His name as I AM ______________________, with whatever our need in the blank! For Israel, He was their bread, their water, their safety, their salvation, their warrior, their God of the impossible, the God of every need in their life.
Through Moses, Israel was told the promises of God that they would receive if they would only follow Him. In Joshua 21:45, we are told, “There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” God had kept every promise! There is nothing too hard for God, Jeremiah 32:17.
The God of Israel is my God today. Every promise in the Book is mine!
My faith rests upon the Word of God. The word rest comes from the Old French rester which means “to stand back.” When we rest upon the Word of God, we are standing back watching Him do His best for us. My hands are off; my faithful God is in control. He is not my crutch; He is my All! Noah Webster describes rest as “Quiet; repose; a state free from motion or disturbance; a state of reconciliation to God.”
When you look at today’s world you will be distressed, but when you place your faith in God, you will be at rest.
I once heard an older preacher describe placing faith in Jesus as a contented cow chewing her cud in the middle of a giant pasture filled with green grass up to her belly button. What a picture! (Sorry, city girls!)
Martin Luther described faith as a living and unshakeable confidence. James Wells included that confidence in his hymn “Living by Faith.”
I care not today what tomorrow may bring,
If shadow or sunshine or rain,
The Lord I know ruleth o’er everything,
And all of my worry is vain.
Living by faith in Jesus above,
Trusting , confiding in His great love,
From all harm safe in His sheltering arm
I’m living by faith, and feel no alarm.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego lived that confidence as they stood before Nebuchadnezzar stating that they were not careful in their answer to the king’s threatening them with a fiery furnace. Why were they so carefree? They knew that their God could deliver them physically or spiritually from the king’s hands. Their powerful faith rested on God being capable, but if not, He is still good!
Faith is not self-confidence, but God-confidence!
God makes it clear in His Word that He did not save us just to keep us out of hell. He wants a personal relationship with each of us. II Corinthians 6:16b tells us, “. . . ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them; and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Faith is the means by which we have this relationship with God. And living by faith is how we show the lost world that we have a living God inside of us.
Paul rejoiced because he saw the Colossians were steadfast in their faith, they were established in the faith, they were abounding in their faith (Colossians 2: 5, 7). Are we that “solid as a rock” person in our family, acquaintances, and the church? Children are growing up without ever knowing a stable, God-fearing person who lives their faith. Churches are “changing” (not even a church anymore) because there is no one who is established in the faith enough to take a stand on God’s Word. James said that he would show his faith by his works. Having a relationship with God will be visible!
What a privilege it is to be a Christian. What a privilege to be a representative of the God of heaven! God help us to live our faith and make a difference in someone’s life.
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