By Pastor David Odom
Anytime you hear the word “Christian” you will usually hear or think of the word “Faith.” Our entire Christian walk is built off of “Faith.” There are all kinds of faith out there. Some people are new in the faith, some are strong in their faith, and some people have faith but never exercise their faith. Some people don’t even know what it looks like to exercise their faith, but the Bible tells us in James 2:17: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
Hebrews 11 is the referred to as the “Great Faith Hall of Fame,” and it is a chapter full of old saints that exercised their faith. For most people, the word faith is too often mistaken as a warm fuzzy feeling about something that we think is to be true or something that we think will come to pass based on what we see in front of us. But faith is not a warm fuzzy feeling or a good feeling about something.
Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is a fruit of the spirit and faith is one of the fruits that we as Christians should possess in our life. Faith is mentioned 336 times in the KJV Bible. Hebrews also tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. (I wonder how pleased God is with the church of today or with us as individual Christians?) ( 2 Corinthians 5:17) also reads that we walk by faith, not by sight. Does that still ring true today? Does the church of the today walk by faith or do we operate in what is within our sight? William Newton Clarke said “Faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see.”
The church of today is more about what we can see and touch, things that are tangible. We rarely ever walk by faith in every situation in our life. We live our life based on what we can see at the end of our noses. We put all of our faith in the things that we can see or touch. We have faith in our cars each day that we walk out and start them. We have faith in the chair that we sit down in. We seem to have faith in our careers and our bank account, and our entire life hinges on our next paycheck. But I think God calls us to a higher faith. I think God wants us to want miracles and things to happen that seem impossible by our means. God wants the best for his children but most of us are like the children of Israel, we are too scared to step out on faith in what God has in store for us and we miss out on God’s best for our lives. This phrase has stuck in my head for the past week. Having faith with no works is like getting out of Egypt, but never making it to the promised land. We live on the edge of God’s best because we lack faith. We lack faith in the very God that created you and me and the same God that created the heavens and the earth and the same God that the wind and seas obey. Put the stars in motion and we still lack faith that he can do what he says he can do. So, here are a couple of things to help you understand faith.
Faith is Trust — Faith is trusting God at his word. Trust comes with a track record. We trust many things over our God. We trust in the stock market and our retirement. Faith is trusting God’s plan for your life even when it seems too far out of reach for you.
Faith is Action — “Action without Assurance.” “Bold action in the face of uncertainty.” “Hope in motion.” You have to step out of the boat if your gonna walk on water. There is a difference in dreamers and business owner. Have you ever thought about a business that is up and running like Uber and thought ‘I could have done that.’ Well, maybe, but there is one major difference. You can think it all day long but it’s only until you act upon it and take action to make it happen that you will ever see an outcome. There are many uncertainties in business. One thing is for sure, if you never step out you will never succeed, you will never even give yourself a chance to. Most people are a “what if I fail kinda person.”
Faith is Perseverance — No matter what it takes or what happens, God’s track record is impeccable and so far no one has offered me a better solutions for when life’s course is over. So, I set my mind on Jesus and refuse to let anything sidetrack me from my faith.
Faith is Expectation — We have to expect great and mighty things from a God that loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus to die for our sins. He gave his best for us then (Jesus). He wants us to always have the best, even today. I leave you with this. The story of how I got to associate pastor and writing the column every other week didn’t just happen overnight. It came from many years of saying yes to God’s plan. Had God ask me to preach first my answer would have been no and I would still be running today. But God was building my faith little by little with every yes that I gave God. Will you teach Sunday School? Yes. Would you teach church on Wednesday night? Yes. Will you pray? Yes. As you say yes to the things of God He will began to build your faith little by little and God will put you in some amazing places. Will it be out of my comfort zone and scary? Yes. Will God ask me to do things that seem impossible to me? Yes …. that’s faith!! But a close pastor friend of mine told me one day, “God doesn’t want your ability, He just wants your availability……if your willing and available for God He will use you for great things!” So start today with “a yes kinda faith.” God bless!
(The Solution Column is provided by Pastor Brandon Young of Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, Hampton, and his associate, David Odom.)