This is the second of three blogs about Trials, Faith and Temptation.
You may think you are a person of faith, and you very well may be. But here’s a way to discover what type of faith you have. When you find yourself in a trial, what is the foundation of your faith? How you answer this will describe what type of faith you have. Let me share some of my own experiences as I have learned about faith.
When some are tested their faith is expressed in prayer. They pray, they get their friends to pray, they ask their friends on social media to pray. Everyone is praying…But the question is, what are they praying? Nevertheless, prayer makes the person feel better.
When others are tested they seek wise counsel. They meet with as many people as they can, some who are peers and others who are wiser than they. And they talk and they share. But what do they talk about and what is shared? But this too makes the person feel better.
When some are tested they hunker down with their own past experiences and weather the storm. They’ve been here before so they recall what they did the last time and often lean on some little poem or wise saying that helps them get through the test. But what is the basis of the poem or the saying or the experience? Yet, this also makes the person feel better.
Prayer, wise counsel, experiences, these are all wonderful things. But they are not necessarily Biblical faith.
I’m learning to have not just faith but true Biblical faith. Biblical faith is not prayer, it’s not seeking wise counsel, it’s not leaning on your past experiences. Biblical faith is knowing, applying, and trusting in God’s word. When you find yourself in any type of trial and you allow the Bible to speak into your life, you align your actions with what God is saying, and then you trust that God will do what He said He would do. This is Biblical faith.
When you pray, pray scripture. Don’t babble on trying to persuade God to respond. Thank Him for this trial and for what it will produce within you. Pray scriptures like Romans 8:28 and Genesis 50:20. Bigger words, tighter eyes, more tears do not equate to Biblical faith.
When you meet with your wise counsel what is the source of the advice. If your wise counsel can’t point you to scripture…RUN! You can get anything they are saying at your local bookstore. Men and women who have Biblical faith will point you back to God’s word and give you Biblical principals that reflect the heart of those scriptures. Look for your “Jethro” or “Paul” who will speak into your life and point you always back to what God says.
When you think on your past experiences remember Proverbs 3:5-6. When you think back on your past experiences remember what Moses told the Israelites when crossing the Jordan, “stay behind the ark of the covenant…for we have never been this way before.” When walking through a trial, even one that seems familiar, allow God to lead you and not your past experience (your past experiences may be the very reason you are in this trial again?).
What would our life, family, and churches look like if we were people who understood and lived in Biblical faith. I will answer that with some Biblical faith...Jesus said, "the gates of hell will not prevail."
Have a blessed day,
Pastor Matt