Have you ever given much thought to your faith? I’m not necessarily speaking about our faith in God, just faith in general. We all have faith. Most of us have electricity, running water in our homes, and a vehicle. We have those things because we have faith. We have faith that when we flip the switch, the light will come on, when we plug in the tv and hit power it will show a picture and have sound. We have faith that when we turn the faucet water will come out and when we turn the key or press the button the vehicle will start. At the gas pump, we have faith that we are pumping gas into our tanks and not some other liquid. We have faith that when we put pen or pencil to paper we will see the markings on the page. From start to finish throughout our day we all have faith in a variety of things.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
There are many that will tell you that our faith is only as good as the object or person we have faith in. The problem is that is only part of the equation. Hebrews tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, right? That means someone is doing the hoping. While we can have faith in God, that is only a piece of the puzzle. Faith is an action word, without action on our part we are simply waiting for a handout from God and calling it faith.
If I go into an abandoned house, flip the light switch, and expect the light to come on, the likelihood is I will be sorely disappointed. I can have faith in electricity all day long, but if the electricity to the home has been turned off, there will be no light. Let’s say I decide this house would be a great home and I buy it. I call the electric company to have the electricity turned on, flip the switch again, and now the light will come on. I had to take action in order for the lights to work. We must take action with our faith.
You’ll soon be seeing posts under the Bible Study section going over the individuals in Hebrews 11 and we’ll see exactly what their faith looked like. These post will have printables to help guide you in your study. Fear not, it won’t just be me rambling on and on! Until then I want to leave you with the following story:
Two neighboring farmers looked out over their dry and dusty fields. The previous year they were in a drought, but the coming year was to be even worse. As another season of drought was predicted both farmers asked God to send rain. Weeks passed and no rain. Yet one of the farmers put action to their faith; he climbed on his tractor, plowed fields, and planted seeds. When the rain came only one farmer reaped a harvest. Why? Simply because he put action behind his faith. Are you putting action to your faith?
LOVE this!!! Another way to demonstrate faith in action is the actions we DON’T take. For instance, in your account of the two farmers, it is noteworthy that the farmer with the harvest of crops didn’t go out, invest in a sprinkler system, irrigate his farm from his well or tap into some other water source and then call that faith. That would be taking the reins from the One who makes plants grow and then according to Luke 12:27, get dressed by God with the fruit of beautiful petals. There is a fine line with taking action and taking control. That is where most of us–especially me–struggle with our faith. We all have “THE” measure of faith to use. (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 is just about using it and not letting it die with inaction or be smothered by our controlling the given situation. In the verse above notice how thinking highly of ourselves and thinking soberly are in the same verse as acknowledging we have all been given faith. We can think so highly of our resources or abilities or whatever and leave our faith stagnant. We can also think like a drunk person who is wavering, fearful and intoxicated by the circustances until we are moved by those things, instead of fully relying on God through faith in His Word to do whatever we need. Wow. This is long. Sorry. Love your blog. Keep ’em coming!
So true! Going too far to the left or the right is the wrong way.
OH! And I meant to add that the use of the word “THE” is kinda important. It means I don’t have more faith than you and you don’t have more faith than me; at least not in the beginning. We can all grow our faith or we can sit on it. Either way, we are all given the same amount to work with. I want to use mine wisely and make it grow, but it is a daily decision and I often fail at doing that.
Totally nailed it! Love the story shared at the end about the farmers Penny! No truer words spoken. One of my favorite passages is of scripture is:
James 2:14-22 King James Version (KJV)
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?