I
recently came across a beautiful definition of faith –
Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind (believing) that a certain statement
is true. Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and
therefore worthy of trust.*
I’ve
rephrased this definition to say, ‘faith = belief + trust’. Ephesians 1:11-13 speaks of the marvelous
inheritance obtained by those, who trusted and believed in the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Over
the years, from the opportunities I’ve had to speak with women, I find that
many believe Jesus to be all that He proclaims, but they struggle in trusting
that He will be ‘all’ in their lives. And
I must admit, that it’s so much easier to believe and trust what God says that
He’ll do for someone else, than it is to believe and trust His promises to you. You can clearly see His hand moving and
orchestrating blessing for another, but when it comes to yourself – not so
clear! There are many reasons that it’s
harder to have faith (trust and belief) in His personal promises.
(1) Some
have been greatly disappointed by friends and/or loved ones and have, in turn, improperly
imposed those hurts, fears and doubts upon the Lord. The response of the Word
is,
"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19
(2) Some
feel unworthy of the magnificent promises made to those who believe,
corporately and individually. To this I agree, on our own merit, we are
unworthy. It is because of Jesus that we
are made worthy. And the Word replies -
For
we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various
lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one
another. But when the kindness and the
love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His
grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
– Titus 3:3-7
(3) And,
some don’t know of the fullness of their inheritance in Christ. This is gained through the knowledge of His
Word and the growing personal relationship with Christ. Take to heart Paul’s prayer for those in the
church of Ephesus.
For this reason I bow my knees to
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and
earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and
grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the
width and length and depth and height-- to know the love of Christ which passes
knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who
is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according
to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to
all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians
3:14-21
Pray this prayer over
your life. Substitute the words, ‘you’
and ‘your’ to make this prayer personal, ie. ‘that He would grant me, according….’!
Through
many of our reasons for not trusting God, the Adversary of our souls is vigorously
making a case to support that lack of trust.
Yet, the important truth is that my faith-walk will only be as effective
as my ability to trust and believe.
So there’s work to be done – hard work!
Today,
I find myself saying, quite often, “Lord, I trust you! I may not understand my circumstances, but I
trust that You are good AND that You are good to me. I may not like my circumstances, but I trust
that You are good AND that You are good to me.
I believe and trust that you see me, right now at this very moment and I
believe and trust, that when it’s all said and done, I will be victorious!”
The
hard work is knowing (studying the Word) and then choosing (based on your abiding
relationship with Him) to repeat what He says regarding the circumstances of
your life versus repeating ‘filthy words of doubt and fear’ that so easily come
to take residence in our hearts and minds.
It’s easy to be untrusting, so are you willing to do the work?
My
heart’s desire is that my faith-walk will reflect the greatness of the God that
I serve. I don’t at all expect to
accomplish this in my own strength, so I believe and trust the power of His
Spirit working in me! I agree with
Philippians 4:13.
I
can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Amen
and amen!
* Illustrated Bible Dictionary: And Treasury of Biblical
History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature.
