When You Have Faith

“You can never please God without faith, without depending on him. Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely look for him.” Hebrews 11:6

Most of us want God to be pleased with us. We want Him to smile on us. We want to make Him proud. But we are so caught up in thinking that doing works is what pleases Him. So if we went to church six days out of seven and sat on the front row, we feel like God is going to be pleased with us. On the other hand, we feel like if we do not do works or do something to catch His attention, He’s disappointed in us. Many of us are caught up in this works-based relationship with God and we don’t even realize it. What ends up happening is that as long as we're "good", we think God loves us and is proud but the moment we mess up in our works, we allow shame to overwhelm us and think that God wants nothing to do with us. We forget to realize that it is faith that pleases God, not my works, but faith.

When you have true faith in God, it is shown and expressed in obedience. For example, when Abraham was told by God to take the very son that was promised to him and kill him, his faith in God caused him to obey. If he didn’t believe that God would provide, he would’ve never willingly gone to sacrifice his own son. Our works shouldn’t be a way that we prove things to God. It should be a response to our faith in Him which produces our obedience to what He tells us to do in His word.

To have faith in this society looks crazy. But the reality is, it always did. When you have faith you can look at the fact that you just got in a car accident but be able to smile because God protected you and you know He will provide what you need. When you have faith, things can be going crazy around you but you have peace because you believe that all things really work together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. When you have faith, you can watch as you are overlooked for opportunities that God has promised you but still be faithful to what God instructed you to do. When you have faith you can watch others get blessed with what you feel you deserve to get and be able to genuinely rejoice with them because you know that God hasn’t forgotten you and He still has a plan for you.

Faith is only hard when you believe that you know better than God does about your life. When you trust that He really rewards those who diligently seek Him, then you won’t stop seeking Him because things aren’t going your way. When you trust that He really is who He says He is, then you won’t let the situations in your life cause you to take your eyes off of Him. We all know how to trust in something, but we sometimes struggle when it comes to having faith in God. We are quick to try to make things happen and cause things to work instead of believing what God said the first time and staying attentive in His presence. I know because I’m guilty of this. But I’ve been seeing that the more I make a decision to trust instead of worry, pout, doubt, fear, and hide, the more my faith is increased.

So today, I want to encourage you to not just talk about having faith to sound spiritual or religious. I want to encourage you to not allow what you see to make you forget what God is capable of. Instead, I encourage you to actually trust that God is who He says He is in His word and He is more than able to do everything that He has spoken concerning you. Just stay on the journey long enough to see just how faithful He is!