"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). What can your faith do for you? Whatever you believe about faith, the most important thing you can do with it is place it in Christ. We are "saved by Grace through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). Faith is vital to being a Christian. Faith is required! We cannot be faithful to something that we do not have faith in. We must have faith to be faithful. It takes faith to even come to God. Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe the He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (NASB). To be willing to go to God for anything, we must believe He is and can. We would not go to Him if we did not have faith in Him.
God desires us to come to Him for any and everything we need. How many times do we run to the doctor before we ask God? How often do we run to Visa and Master-card without taking the need to God? Call me "Old Fashioned," but I still believe in a God that heals. I still believe in a God that delivers. I still believe in a God that provides. I still believe in a God that saves. I still believe in a God that gives peace. He can make a way when the doctor has no answer. He can provide the things that you need without interest. God can! If we have faith in Him, we must go to Him. Trusting God does not mean that you don't go to your doctor; you just go to God in prayer and trust that He will guide you in your steps. The doctor may be in those steps.
We always talk about having faith in God. For me, it is easy to have faith in God. I know what He has done in my life, and it is not hard for me to trust Him. Thinking about this leads me to another thought. Does God have faith in people (Job 4:18)? Does God trust His people? Does He have faith in me that I will do the right thing? If He does have faith in people, what does it take for God to have faith in me? After much prayer, thought, and study, I realized God puts faith in His people.
If God has faith in His people, what does that look like? God does put faith in His people, and it looks like, "Have you considered my servant Job?" (Job 1:8) Job was a wealthy man, blessed by God. He must have had faith in God because he remained faithful to God throughout his whole ordeal. You are probably familiar with Job's story, so I will not go into much detail here. All my life, I heard that Satan had to ask permission from God to attack Job. If you read the story, you will discover that that is not entirely true. The Bible says, "The Lord said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' Then Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.' The Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like Him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.' (Job 1:7-8 NASB)" Satan knew Job, and he also knew that God had a hedge around Job (v9-10). Satan declared, "Does Job fear God for nothing? (Job 1:9 NASB). His response to God reveals that he thought that the only reason Job was faithful to God was because of all the things God had done for Job. God knew differently! The truth is God had blessed and protected Job because of his faithfulness. God offered Job up. Many think that Satan came and asked permission to attack Job. While there is some truth in that, God asked, "Have you considered my servant Job?" God must have had faith in Job.
I am not Job, and I can't tell you that I would be faithful like Job if I went through what Job went through. Would I be as faithful to God as Job? I would like to know that God could trust me with any and everything. Does God have faith in you like that? If you and I give in to every temptation, then God can't have a lot of faith in us. God is faithful, and we must have faith in Him. Are you loyal enough to God that He knows you will remain faithful to Him no matter what trial or temptation comes your way?
He is Faithful!
Pastor Josh May
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