And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.. – Hebrews 11:6
We exercised faith when we originally believed in Jesus Christ and what He did for us. For those of us who have repented the way I described in my last blog entry – giving our whole lives to Him – we have experienced the rebirth Jesus discussed with Nicodemus. We’ve been born again.
But staying there would be like leaving a new born baby on the delivery table. That’s not where we want to remain if we want to get through the tough times ahead — and regardless of the economy or political landscape, all of us will eventually face trials and tribulations, and some of us more than others.
So let’s get on with the “boot camp” basics of the Christian life. Following repentance is faith in God. And faith in God is every bit as important as repentance. As a matter of fact, repentance was our first act of faith in God.
When you enter this new life and are born again, you’ve arrived in your Promised Land. But this isn’t where you just walk around picking low-hanging fruit. It’s not easy. Like the Israelites who finally crossed the Jordan River after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, this new land of milk and honey is where your battles really begin. And you have two powerful weapons: God’s word and your faith.
The best thing I’ve ever read about the subject of living the new life of faith in God is the book Believing God by Beth Moore. If you haven’t purchased it, do yourself a favor. Buy one. Don’t check it out from the library. It’s the kind of book you’ll need to read, underline, highlight, and go back and read again. If more of us exercised the insight, courage, and conviction — the faith — that Beth Moore talks about, we’d be demonstrating the real Christian life … and we’d be turning the world upside down. Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of Beth’s book…
“Is it working? Your belief system that is. Is it really working? God’s intention all along has been for the believer’s life to work. … God meant for His children to succeed. … The only way we are going to impact the world and the next generation is to prove that our faith in Christ is real and that it works. … The sad part of it is that some of us are working pretty hard at something that’s hardly working. … Why are we doing everything we can to convince others to do something that hasn’t worked terrifically well for us? … God’s willingness and unwavering desire to bless His people is one of the most repetitive concepts in both testaments of His word. He is the giver of all good gifts and greatly exalts when a child cooperates enough to receive some.”
So what’s missing?
Our faith. Why aren’t we succeeding and receiving the “good gifts” He promises? As Beth says, many of us believe in God, but we don’t believe God. We don’t think His promises are for us, so we don’t take him at His word, trust Him, and do everything He says. We hold back, and don’t take risks. We don’t expect much, and as a result, we don’t see much. God’s waiting for us to believe him and obey, and stop sitting on our hands and go where He leads, so He can intervene, empower, bless, and reveal Himself to us.
Why don’t we put aside our doubts and go into battle with Him? What’s defeating us? Fear. We’re scared we aren’t worthy. (We weren’t, aren’t and never will be.) But He took care of that through Jesus on the cross — and as newborns into His kingdom, we are now full citizens. Better than that, we are His children — royalty, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And as heirs, God wants to use us to demonstrate His power, goodness, and love, which will bring Him glory, honor, praise and thanksgiving.
What’s that look like?
The last few years of my business were filled with some amazing adventures in faith. One battle after another, followed by one blessing after another.
In 1995, paper prices were increasing astronomically every month. At the same time, the Internet was ramping up and I was looking for a way to use it to communicate our news. In the spring of ‘95 I received a call from a computer programmer in Pennsylvania who said that his pastor had passed away recently. Before he died, his pastor had asked the programmer to contact us about putting our newsletter, National & International Religion Report, on the Web. (Until then, I had been totally unsuccessful in my search for a Web programmer.) I didn’t know how he was going to do it or what it would look like, but I did what he requested. I sent him copies of back issues on floppy disks. Within a day or two the content was online. It was fully indexed and searchable by date, title, phrase or topic. I could hardly believe it.
When I saw it, I immediately contacted the programmer to thank him. We discussed the additional potential of the Web for Christian communications. But the recent paper price increases had created a serious cash flow problem for me and I didn’t see any way I could do anything more. The programmer wanted to come and visit. By the end of the week he was in my office, along with his wife. The more we talked, the more excited we got about the possibilities. We went to lunch and near the end of our luncheon his wife asked if I believed in fasting for guidance. I said I did, so she suggested we each fast over the weekend to see what might come up. I agreed, and they went back home.
On Monday morning, when we talked by telephone, I asked them if they had heard anything special. I hadn’t… my bank account was still pretty empty. Regardless, they told me they were moving to Virginia! I had no idea how I was going to pay him for his work, but it didn’t seem to matter. They were trusting God and moving anyway.
Battles and Blessings
Even before they moved, the battles began. The programmer got estimates for the equipment — a router, dedicated T-1, and server – and found out it would cost around $36,000. That may not sound like much, but it seemed like Mount Everest at the time. I told him I didn’t know where I would find the money.
Then my brother called out of the blue to see if I wanted to take my sports car on an outing. I told him I couldn’t afford it — “if I do anything with that car, I’m going to sell it” (it was our “third car” that sat unused most of the time in my garage). That’s all I needed to say. He promised to give me $12,000 for it in a few days.
As I drove home that night from work I wondered what else I could sell. When I pulled into my garage I saw a ‘for sale’ sign in a box on the floor. I stuck it in the back window of my Jeep Cherokee. The next day my neighbor stopped in to my office, saw the sign in my car and told me he wanted to buy it. He gave me $12,000. By the end of the week, I had $24,000. But I was still nervous. Where would I get the final $12,000 for the equipment?
Soon afterward the programmer told me he had done some more searching and a little negotiating, and found all the equipment we needed for $24,000 (he didn’t know I had sold my cars or how much I got for them).
A few days later while I was driving my wife’s car to work, the doubts started to flood my mind. Have I gone off the deep end?! I’ve sold both of my cars. My wife has no transportation. I have a new staff member coming to work for me, and I don’t know how I’ll pay him.
I stopped at the last traffic light before my office and said a prayer. It was something like, “Lord, I think I’ve gone too far and I’m losing it. If this is really you leading me in all this, please do something extraordinary to confirm it. Provide a free car for me to get to work.”
When I got to my office about 60 seconds later and walked through the door, I was greeted by my oldest son. He said, ‘”Hey dad, what are you going to drive now? Do you want the Subaru my father-in-law gave me? It’s just sitting out back behind my house.”
Faith in God
Needless to say, the Lord came through. But that was just one of the many times I’ve gone through trials and put my faith in God. His consistent faithfulness is what makes the Christian life so great. We go into battles as He directs, exercise our faith, and He gives us the victory, one way or another.
To quote Beth Moore once again… “God loves big prayers. …seasons will come when He reauires so much from you that you feel like you can’t bear it. You do have a choice. You don’t have to do it His way. You can choose bitterness, resentment, carnality, or mediocrity. Or you can go for it. With everything you’ve got. You can experience the unmatched exhilaration of partnering in divine triumph. The stakes are high. The cost is steep. But I’ll promise you this: there is no high like the Most High. Don’t miss it for the world!”
That’s what faith in God is all about… believing in what He has done for you. Believing in what He is doing for you right now. And believing in what He will do for you in the future. “Don’t miss it for the world!”
