The Power of Faith
1. Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2. For by it, the elders obtained a good report.
Hebrews 11:1-2
How Faith Operates?
It would be useless to talk about the power of Faith without considering the provision of Faith. Where does Faith come from? Is it a human virtue or is it a Divine Gift? To find the answer to those question, one needs only to search God’s Word to discover that Faith is indeed a gift from God. God has dealt or deposited into the life of every believer, the measure of Faith. Romans 12:3. Faith was given the moment you and I were convicted by the Holy Spirit of the need for Salvation. It was Faith that brought us into that relationship with Jesus Christ as we believed in our heart that God raised Him from the dead. In that moment, faith was provided. Every moment since that initial imparting of faith, God has continued to provide His Gift so that we would walk according to His Holy Will.
The believer must also consider the process of Faith. While Faith is unseen in the natural sense, it is nonetheless real as it is put into action. What does that process involve, and how do we engage our faith? Romans 10:9 informs the child of God that Faith comes by hearing God’s Word. It is impossible for a believer to act in Faith if they have not heard God’s Word. What would you follow if it did not come from God? The late Dr. Charles Stanley (renowned author and former pastor of First Baptist Church – Atlanta GA) said that God speaks in many ways. The most common ways that God speaks is through the Bible, through other godly people, and through circumstances where God reveals the right direction for a believer to proceed. Now Faith has a direction to proceed and a path for the believer to follow. Without God speaking and giving direction, there would not be a foundation for Faith to rest.
Now we come to the second part of the process of Faith: obedience. Why is this important in discovering the Power of Faith? Unless a person obeys and follows what God has revealed, Faith is paralyzed. When the child of God takes action to carry out what God has spoken, Faith is put into action. It will succeed in its mission because it is powered by the Holy Spirit operating in the heart. A good example of someone who heard God’s direction but did not follow was Abraham’s father, Terah. Gen. 11:31-32 tells us that Terah set out for the land of Canaan but never got there. What happened? I believe that God had laid it on Terah’s heart to leave Ur of the Chaldeans but he only got as far as Haran. Isn’t that just like us? At the beginning of each year we’ll make these resolutions to do better, live better, and even commit to loving God more. Then as the year goes on, we settle back into the old habits and cease to walk by Faith. Terah believed that going to Canaan was the right thing to do and perhaps even the way of getting closer to God. But he fell short of the goal because something happened to his Faith. Faith did not become powerless; it was the obedience that played a part in the lack of Faith. This is where we find the heart of this message. How do you obey God’s Voice and experience the true Power of Faith?
The Working of Faith
While we may ponder what happened to Terah and why he did not follow through with going to the land of Canaan, we must not ignore the fact that God spoke to Terah’s son Abram about leaving his country and moving on to Canaan. Abram was given specific instructions to leave his country, his neighbors, and his father’s household and go to a place where God would show him. (Gen. 12:1) How did Abram respond? Genesis 12:4, So Abram went as the Lord had told him … This raises two important clues regarding our obedience to Faith. The first clue has to do with the influences around us. How much or what impact does our environment have on the working of Faith? According to God, the impact is enormous. God directed Abram to leave that environment and the people who would have influenced his life. The second clue to discovering the things that influence our faith is God’s promise. God told Abram that there was a promise of an inheritance if he followed the instructions. God promised to make Abram the father of many nations, and that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan, and that he would bless all the nations through him. Those are powerful promises. We said all of that to say this. Faith provides evidence that is not seen with the physical eye but it is revealed in the heart. This goes back to the Scripture text that defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For Abram and Sarai, this removed the guess work. For them, God had made clear what the instructions were and how they were to proceed with their lives. I refer to this as the Path of Faith. This is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Clearly, Abram and Sarai had a starting point and they also had a destination upon which to move forward in obedience to God’s call. Step one, leave your environment. Step two, go toward the promise. Faith takes over when we make the first step and resolve in our heart to obey God.
Lets be real about it. Your life and mine will probably not be as dramatic as Abram and Sarai’s. However, you will need to follow that same path of Faith if you are to become what God wants you to be and to do the things that He has assigned for you. The Apostle James refers to this as the working of faith. James 2:14,17, what good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? … Faith, by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead. In the case of Abram and Sarai, they had to choose whether to stay and die in their old country or experience the Power of God in the new country of promise. At the start of this new year, you have a similar question to ask yourself. Will you remain the same and continue down a dead path or will you move along the Path of Faith toward a new promise of a greater life? So actually, the same choice that Abram and Sarai had to make is now confronting us. Do we stay in the same environment and continue to experience the same result? The results will be dead faith. Or, do we follow the Path of Faith toward God’s promise? You are probably asking, where is the promise? You and I were given a promise through Abram: all nations will be blessed through Abram by that same Faith. I don’t know about you, but I am moving forward in Faith. Now the question is: how do I get Faith to Work?
I know that it involves leaving my old environment. Let’s be straight about that one point. We cannot expect things to change if we stay in the old place and we continue to do the same old thing. That was Abram’s father’s problem. Now might be a good time to choose your friends and relatives carefully. People say you can’t pick your family. I strongly disagree. Abram and Sarai had to choose between loved ones and loving God enough to move. It doesn’t mean that you hate them but it does mean that love has to be at a distance. Otherwise, those closest to you will start telling you things that are in direct opposition to what God is saying inside of you. “You can’t do that.” “You should not be attempting that at your age.” Those are the verbal bombshells that they will try to drop on your Faith. God gave Abram and Sarai a simple solution: just move. Your move may not be a physical move but it can be a time move. Quit spending time with people who are “up to no good.” Also, quit hanging out with people who are not going anywhere. They will be in that same place ten years from now. So, cut your ties, cut your losses, and simply start stepping in the direction that God has given you.
Making the Move
In conclusion, Henry Crane (former pastor from Detroit Michigan) provided some great thoughts on making the move of Faith in a devotional he wrote. Faith is not as obscure as some would suppose it to be. It does indeed have substance. Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith always involves first listening to God and secondly obeying God. Crane suggests that listening to God involves several responses.
First Receive versus Reject. Whenever God speaks we are to receive the Word in our heart with joy. Welcome God’s Word with an open heart and open mind. Here is where many falter by thinking that God couldn’t be speaking to them. They will throw the blame on being too unworthy, or being too busy, or being too difficult to follow. Receive God’s Word even if you do have difficulty understanding it. Remember, anything that God tells you to do automatically becomes possible because He has committed His Power to assist you. God told Abram, “I will show you.” God told Moses, “I will go with you into Egypt.” God said to Joshua, “As I was with Moses so I will be with you.” God has said to you and me, “I will never leave you.” It is not your task to perform, it is your task to simply follow.
Crane goes further and offers the second suggestion for putting faith to work. We must Respond versus React. Sadly, many of us react to the various circumstances in our life rather than taking time to respond. The insta-grams, email, and Facebook have become quick ways to whip up an answer only to find out later that you didn’t take time to even read the question. Responding means taking the time to pause and reflect on what has been presented. It doesn’t have to be days, weeks, or months but we do need to think about how the proposal will make a difference in our life. Mary was a young woman when the Angel Gabriel spoke to her about being the mother of the Messiah. Did she react or did she respond? Her response was not only good, but it was also God directed. She responded, “be it done unto your handmaid as you have said.” She responded by giving back to God His own plan versus reacting and offering to God her plan. Respond to God by surrendering to His Will and His Way.
The third suggestion that Crane offered for putting faith to work is to rejoice versus rebel. We should receive versus reject. We are to respond versus react. But how in the world do you rejoice versus rebel? There are a lot of Christians attempting to walk by faith but they are doing it with a terrible attitude. Much like the children of Israel when they left Egypt, many are ‘grumbling all the way.’ Doing the right thing with a bad attitude is just as bad as not doing it at all. Please do your best to remember that you are walking by faith and not by sight. Have a joyful attitude even if the journey does cause you some pain. How do you rejoice? Rejoice in the Lord. Start praying more and watch how prayer cleans up a dirty attitude. Start praising God more and watch how your focus shifts from where you are to where you are going. Rejoice in the Lord because God will never bring you part of the way. His promise is to keep you every step of the way. Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice! Rejoice because God loves you. Rejoice because His promises will never fail. Rejoice because God is with you and will never let you down.
The Power of your Faith is so strong that it will overcome any and every obstacle that might stand in the way. The Power of your Faith has its foundation in God Himself.