Real Faith
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. – Hebrews 11:6.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. – Psalm 32:8.
Barnabus Shaw along with his wife, Jane, was the first Wesleyan minister to come to South Africa in 1816 and he had planned to preach the Gospel at Cape Town. However, he was forbidden from doing so by the governor. Uncertain as to how to proceed, the Shaws acted on faith according to a passage of Scripture that God had placed on their hearts (1 Samuel 6). They bought oxen and a wagon and loaded their belongings into the wagon. Then they did something really strange – they allowed the oxen to go wherever the oxen wanted to go. In a month they had traveled about 200 miles and there they were met by a group of Khoikhoi people. The tribe had left their home and they were on their way to Cape Town to find a missionary so that they could learn about the Word of God. What incredible faith!
The Bible is hard for our human minds to accept. Because when we read the Bible we are suddenly in a world where seas part and people walk across on dry ground. A world where bushes burn but are not burned up. In this world of the Bible, manna drops out of the sky to feed the people, not once but every day (six days a week). In this world of faith people walk on water, the blind are able to see again, quadriplegics are made to walk and even the dead are brought back to life!! Even though it seems unbelievable somehow we believe, and we know that the Bible is true and that God exists. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).”
What is even more amazing is when God’s people begin to exercise their faith. I once heard a sermon about faith and the pastor, Stan Coffey, said the exercise of faith is:
Believing when you don’t see it.
Obeying when you don’t understand it.
Giving when you don’t have it.
Persisting when you don’t feel like it.
Praising before you receive it.
And trusting when you don’t get it (i.e. what you have prayed for).
The exercise of that kind of faith is a testimony to a faithless world. Is your faith being exercised? I ask that because God is still God and we still must walk by faith and not by sight in this world. Maybe it is time for you to give up the reins of your life to the Lord and allow Him to guide you with His eye? It may be that the Lord has something humanly impossible for you to do that will require real faith. Will you answer His call?
(Faith is still required to serve God and to please Him because we do not yet walk by sight but still must walk by faith.)