Faith Towards God

Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!

This past Sunday on our way to church while negotiating onto the exit to Spintex from the the Accra mall we realised there were a few pot holes and all cars before us were maneuvering in a particular way. When we got to the pot holes filled with water, I drove straight towards that pot hole. My wife said to me “All the other cars are going left around the pot hole and you are going right at it?”. My response to her valid comment/question was “We live by faith and not by sight”. Now I can tell you are considering all the various outcomes for this scenario. My response was not premeditated or even thought. The response came right out of my spirit and not from my mind. The expectation was that going through the pot whole would present a rough or uncomfortable ride but we didn’t not even feel a bump in the road. This got me thinking on how as children of God, many of us live mostly by sight only and not by faith daily.

One other time I had closed from a Friday prayer meeting and was heading home, that day i planned on buying fuel on my way to church but totally forgot to do that. There was unusual traffic that Friday night for some reason. Just as passed Preset High school and got off the Atomic flyover the heavy traffic started all the way to Madina. There was no way to turn the car around, so i thought to myself, the traffic will move eventually. Just as the thought came to me I saw the empty tank light come on on my dash with the display telling me I had only 10 miles to an empty tank. Now i don’t know about you but to run out of petrol in the middle of heavy traffic with no gas station in sight is not a pleasant situation to be in. I was alone and was driving a heavy Volvo XC90 4×4 which is too heavy for one person to push. Everything that could possibly go wrong crossed my mind. In the midst of that I remembered I had heard a preaching of Pastor E. A. Adeboye in which he gave a testimony that one time on his way back from preaching in a far city, his car run out of fuel while he was driving and the WORD OF THE LORD came to him saying KEEP DRIVING AND DON’T LOOK AT YOUR GAUGE. He testified that he drove for over 150KM until he got to his house, and as soon as he parked his car the engine when off. By this time the smile on my face had become very big, I said thank you Jesus for your faithfulness towards your servants. I said Oh Lord as you did it for your servant, please do same for me. Almost immediately the car fuel display unit changed from 10 miles to 20 miles, i begun to pray in tongues hahaha, the thing moved on from 20miles to 30 miles. I exclaimed “My God”, kept praying the more and it moved from 30miles to 50 miles. At this point I was singing praises in the car and blessing the Name of the Lord. I was in traffic at Madina for more than an hour and guess what? The fuel did not run out. The God of Adeboye had done it again.

The essence of these testimonies is the let you understand that in life we are all faced with challenging situations day by day. Our response however cannot be the same as those who are not saved. They have only one option that is they live by sight, but we have a greater option that is walking by faith.

What then is this faith?

Quite often when we go out and are offered a seat, I doubt anyone inspects the seat before sitting. When we jump onto a trotro or an Uber the last thing that we think off is if the driver has a license. For some reason we believe things should be as we wish them.

The Bible says:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”Hebrews 11:1-3 NKJV

Breaking it down

1. The things we hope for has to have substance. It should not be fleeting or wasteful. What we hope for must be worthy of the hope itself and must exhibit a solid and tangible presence (substance)

2. The evidence of things not seen. The display of faith results in God getting all the Glory. Things that are impossible for Man are possible with God. He does exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ask or think, or even imagine.

3. To obtain a good testimony requires the God kind of faith. Nothing good in the kingdom comes by wishing them into being. Obtaining great testimonies requires a measure of faith that places you above your circumstances.

4. The complexity of what we see and how they came into being can be believed only by faith. The world did not come into being by any big bang. That is utter nonsense to any person of faith. Things we see were made of things that did not exist.

Applying faith to our day to day lives can have its foundation on Biblical examples. The Bible says there is nothing new under the sun. So your situation is not peculiar to only you. Take a look!

Hebrews 11:8-11 (NKJV). 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

So you see the kind of faith God requires from us cannot entertain any kind of doubt or unbelief. God himself who became flesh and dwelt among men said have faith in God.

Mark 11:22-24 (NKJV) So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

The foundation of your faith in God is believing in Him and His word. God cannot lie, so if He has said He will surely bring it to pass.

Romans 1:17 (NKJV) 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

The more faith you have in God the more you experience His righteousness with encompasses His faithfulness. The faith you have in God can grow. And faith grows only by the word of God. Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The God kind of faith does not come from any other source except the word of God.

As you meditate on these things may the Lord help you to come to a place where your faith and trust is in Him and His word. The Lord bless you and keep you and show you His Salvation.

Shalom Peace and life to you. Ps Ron