"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1
“Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. Faith is a tremendously active principle that always puts Jesus Christ first. The life of faith says, “Lord, You have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in Your Word” (for example, see Matthew 6:33). Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless.” - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
When I woke up this morning the thought “Seeing is not a requirement for believing.” was on my mind. The Spirit was speaking to me. That ever happen to you? Probably, but perhaps you don’t realize that is what is happening when it does. To know something to be true without evidence is different from “thinking” something might be true. Faith is spiritual and works on another plane than our natural reasoning. I know that I know, but don’t know how I know. I struggle because I try to filter a faith-fact through my natural mind. Thomas struggled with believing that it was Jesus standing before him, until he filtered it through the natural man – “I must touch his wounds!” Jesus then said “Blessed are those who believe and have not seen.” (John 20:29)
Can you ...will you trust Jesus even when what you are trusting Him in is contrary to reason? I did not say contrary to the revealed will and Word of God. When faced with a Faith challenge, it will always be consistent with who God is and His truth. But it may not make any sense. Martie and I find ourselves in that place all the time. We are there right now as a matter of fact. I should say, "Once again we find ourselves responding to God's leading."
The hazard (if you will) of our calling. Proverbs 3:5-6 says not to lean on our own understanding. In other words, faith comes first. Understanding will follow … most of the time. When I was in Army Basic training at the ripe age of 18, I had one particular drill sergeant, SSGT San Felice. He was 6’2”, red hair, from Puerto Rico. He had a very thick accent. He told us .. “I don’t care if you don’t understand me, you better do it!” I think I did a lot of unnecessary pushups! Well, our life in Christ is that way in some respects. We hear God, we don’t understand what was said, but we doubt God. The disciples did that during the storm. Peter did that while walking on the water. We do that when God says do something that makes no earthly sense. It means that we have to give up our worldly confidence and rest in God’s faithfulness. Friend, that is the life we have been called to. Our oldest daughter posted a comment on a picture of a trailer we are preparing to carry our tools to Florida to help with the recovery there. "It’s all about obedience" I told a friend, when asked about our leaving, "When you know, you must go."
“We live by faith and not by sight.” -2 Corinthians 5:7
What is it that God is telling you to do? You must choose. By the way, to do nothing - to avoid making a decision - is making a choice ... and that choice is not for God.
“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:15
Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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