And being not weak in faith!

(Romans 4:19) “And being not weak in faith...”

When things around us begin to crumble, what will keep us looking heavenward? Faith is the substance of things hoped for; it is the evidence of things not seen. When life around a believer begins to crumble, and hardships press in on their lives, it is only then that we will truly understand the measure of our faith. It is God who gives his children good gifts, and faith is amongst that number. We cannot boast in ourselves if we have a measure of faith that seems greater than that of a brother. Faith is a gift of God!

Now if we have the Spirit of God, if we are amongst the quantity in God’s family and we have been adopted by Him and we brandish the surname Christian, then we obviously have a measure of faith. Faith in Christ’s ability to get us home! It is God given and it comes from the Spirit of God. Remember Joshua and Caleb, they had a different Spirit! Faith equips a believer to focus in on their hope; heaven is a place where God lives, that will be our final accomplishment, where hope is no longer hope as she would have arrived. That is what faith drives a believer toward, regardless of the hardship along the way; faith will end up the victor. We often ask why me? Well in the context of faith, the answer stares us clearly in the face without any contradiction and says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Let’s unpack this verse; it will help us get a clearer understanding of why things happen and who will benefit by the trail of an enduring believer.

Firstly let us establish that faith and hope go together, the object of faith and hope is the same. It is a firm persuasion as well as an acclimation that God will complete what He has started in the believer’s life. His Promise is in Christ, has He not proved that by sending His Son, God in the flesh, to die on our behalf so that every believer may go free, yes He has! Because this persuasion is so strong it gives the soul a kind of control and present execution of those things, the soul is given substance by the first-fruits and samples of them: so that believers in the use of faith are filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Christ dwells in the soul by faith, and the soul is filled with the fullness of God, as far as his present measure will divulge; he experiences a considerable reality in the matter of faith. However God cannot be seen with the naked eye, His power is revealed to all in and through creation as well as a believer enduring hardship, “it is the substance of things hoped for.” Faith through one’s mind demonstrates the reality of those things that cannot be discerned by the eye of the body which is of a natural nature. A believer’s application in faith sets to its seal that God is true. It helps the soul act beyond the here and now and is driven by the hope we have in God. Even when the believer is hard-pressed and their lives seem to be crumbling around them, even when those around them think that there is no longer any hope for them, they are given the wherewithal to reach out beyond their worldly critics and often the worse critics are amongst believers. They find faith in Christ to suffer the anguish and endure the adversity. Remember Samson, he lost both his eyes but he slayed more in his death than in his life. When others witness this in their lives they are by default left pondering, they ask, “Why do they have so much faith in what cannot be seen as their lives seem to be crumbling, maybe this God that they proclaim as the only true God, just maybe, He is real”! Our trial will prove to others that God is real, that is why believers are put through trial. It not only helps us understand our hope to be true, but is also gets the doubters to sit up and take note. God is glorified throughout! When we reason with a sound mind it is no longer our man-centred ambitions that take precedence in our lives but our lives become God-centred and He receives the glory and how sweet that is to the believer! It is not something we plan or look for, Job never asked for His trial, yet he had to endure it, his faith was tested as it left him in full of boils and sitting amongst hot ash, crying woe is me! But the end result was worth it all! He ended up the victor and God's name amongst the angelic host was glorified.

This morning I woke up somewhat despondent, yet now I am full of hope as my faith has been re-kindled. How important it is for every believer to remember to trim the sail of faith and even the more as we see that day approaching. It is only the Word of God through the direction of God the Holy Spirit that feeds us with faith and thus ignites our hope to once again burn bright and clear. Remember believer to trim your sail!

I will leave you with the words of probably the greatest gifted preacher over the last two-hundred years...

“Christian, take good care of thy faith; for recollect faith is the only way whereby thou canst obtain blessings. If we want blessings from God, nothing can fetch them down but faith. Prayer cannot draw down answers from God’s throne except it be the earnest prayer of the man who believes. Faith is the angelic messenger between the soul and the Lord Jesus in glory. Let that angel be withdrawn, we can neither send up prayer, nor receive the answers. Faith is the telegraphic wire which links earth and heaven-on which God’s messages of love fly so fast, that before we call he answers, and while we are yet speaking he hears us. But if that telegraphic wire of faith be snapped, how can we receive the promise? Am I in trouble?-I can obtain help for trouble by faith. Am I beaten about by the enemy?-my soul on her dear Refuge leans by faith. But take faith away-in vain I call to God. There is no road betwixt my soul and heaven. In the deepest wintertime faith is a road on which the horses of prayer may travel-aye, and all the better for the biting frost; but blockade the road, and how can we communicate with the Great King? Faith links me with divinity. Faith clothes me with the power of God. Faith engages on my side the omnipotence of Jehovah. Faith ensures every attribute of God in my defence. It helps me to defy the hosts of hell. It makes me march triumphant over the necks of my enemies. But without faith how can I receive anything of the Lord? Let not him that wavereth-who is like a wave of the Sea-expect that he will receive anything of God! O, then, Christian, watch well thy faith; for with it thou canst win all things, however poor thou art, but without it thou canst obtain nothing. “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone