Monday 11 April 2016

Faith is not enough



In Hebrews Chapter 11 we read: To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.

But what does that really mean? What is it like to have faith, and not only to believe in a living God, Creator of all and everything, but also to be certain in that belief? Without any proof, or evidence whatsoever.

It’s as if to have faith is to believe when your common sense tells you not to.

Often Jesus said to people He has healed: Your faith has healed you. Your faith has saved you.

He taught that if we had faith as small as a mustard seed we could perform miracles.

We read in Mark 9:24 that when a father asked Jesus to heal his son, he said: I believe, Lord; help my unbelief. Jesus took pity on him and realised that the man had some faith, perhaps not enough, but at least he had some; so Jesus healed the man’s son.

This leads us to ask: Is faith enough?

We may have faith, to varying degrees, depending on who we are. But is this enough?

After all, even the devil has faith. He believes in God all-right. He even tried to tempt Jesus often enough. This proves that he has faith, and believes in God. Perhaps more than we do.

So, if faith is not enough; what is missing in our relationship with God?

Trust.

Let us consider trust for a moment. A little child does not question whether his parents care for him or not. It is intrinsically part of his nature to take it for granted that his parents love him and will take care of him. When he asks them for bread they will not give him a stone, and when he asks for fish they will not give him a serpent.

The child trusts his parents and will continue to do so as he grows up; until one day someone may betray that trust and then he’ll become more wary of those around him.

So how about us? Is our faith in God matched with an unshakeable trust that He cares for us, and no matter what happens, no matter how bad things are in our lives, He is there, beside us, all the time caring for us and ready to see us through whatever crisis we face.

Can you imagine the amount of self-control and concentration of thought we should have to believe, really believe, that not matter what happens, we trust that God loves us and cares for us enough to protect us from all evil?

Such level of trust may well be beyond what many of us can achieve; but it should not stop us from trying. Through gritted teeth even. We should pray, over and again, that we trust God that He will see us through this dark period in our lives.

Faith, no matter how great or small, as much as half a mustard seed even, may not be enough. It needs to be accompanied by an unfailing trust that our loving God will never ever let us down.

It is no point having faith in a Master who walks on water if we do not trust Him enough to follow Him.

26 comments:

  1. "It is no point having faith in a Master who walks on water if we do not trust Him enough to follow Him." To that I say, "Amen!" Wishing you a wonderful day!

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    1. Thank you Cathy. Hope you have a great day.

      Gdo bless.

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  2. faith and trust grow hand in hand ...

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  3. Wow! Love your last paragraph...so very, very true!
    Blessings,
    Aimee

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    1. Great to see you visiting here again Aimee. Thank you.

      God bless you.

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    2. Victor--I was wondering if it would be OK to post that last, wonderful paragraph of yours on my blog? I would be more than happy to attribute it to you with a link to your blog of course. If you would rather I not, that is TOTALLY fine with me too--I already added it to my journal, told it to my hubby (who agreed with it) and have been reflecting on it today :) Thanks again!
      Blessings,
      Aimee

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    3. Thank you Aimee. I would be honored if you were to post the paragraph on your Blog. Please durect your readers to the post in question as what I have written here may well help someone.

      Aimee, I don't know who visits my Blog, perhaps without commenting. I hope and pray that what I write about Christ may help someone. This also goes for my humourous writings, which I know from the statistics, tend to attract new readers. Perhaps non-believers who then get tempted to read my Christian articles.

      My books, (Christian or humourous) tend to serve the same purpose, and some can be downloaded FREE from my website: www.holyvisions.uk See also right side margin and tab at the top left.

      God bless you and your family.

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  4. I think I told you the story of the woman I talked with who told me "She had faith", but it took "Trust to move all the way across the country to start a ministry when God lead her. I was amazed at her courage and deep and abiding faith that lead to trust. It starts with faith and experience and knowledge then leads us to trust. Praying we all trust Him as we trek through this life.
    Blessings!

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    1. Thank you for your wisdom, Lulu. Yes it takes trust, sometimes great trust, as I have experienced recently, to truly believe He cares for us.

      God bless.

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    1. Thank you shortybear. It is great to see you visiting me here.

      God bless you.

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  6. Oh, my word...I sit here in tears. It was as if God spoke straight through you to our situation. I am now in day #50 of intercessory prayer over some burdens, and though I have been serving God for years, I have NEVER been led to such levels of trust before. I didn't know such levels of trust even exist as I am being led to now. I know you pray for us, and you will never know how much it means to us. We would so appreciate your continued prayers as we continue in this very uncertain journey...it is requiring more trust than ever before. You are so right...faith is not enough. God bless you for being obedient to His call upon your life.

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    1. Dear Cheryl,

      It is very difficult indeed to trust the Lord as a child trusts his parents. A child does not think or analyse his relationship with his parents. He takes it for granted. He knows that mom and dad will provide him with food, clothing, shelter and whatever else he needs.

      As we grow up, we tend to analyse every situation and every one we meet. We don't trust everyone equally. You can imagine, therefore, how difficult it is for us to trust God totally, without the slightest doubt, that He will look after us. Our fears and doubts come in the way and blurs our vision.

      God knows that. He knows it is our human nature to doubt. And He forgives, time and again, as we would forgive our children.

      Cheryl I am praying for you and your family; as I pray for all who visit me on my Blog. Please continue to trust in the Lord, with whatever strength you can muster.

      You can write to me at the address at the tab at the top right if you wish. The e-mail comes straight to my desk.

      God bless.

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    2. Dear Victor, I am just now having the chance to come back here to read your reply. I am so amazing at how God works. was JUST thinking that I wondered if I could email you to shed some more light on our situation, and then when I got to the end of your reply, there it was! Your invitation to do just that. I will do that very soon, and I cannot thank you enough for your kindness and support and willingness to be such an encouragement to us. Will write you soon, Lord willing.

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    3. Praying for you and your family, Cheryl.

      God bless you all.

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  7. Fantastic lesson Victor. It is right on.

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  8. When I read the headline (Is Faith Enough?) I was ready to expect a dissertation on "works." Thank the LORD you didn't. You actually added another element to what faith entails. Good on ya!
    from Michael Hicks Thompson, author of Christian Murder Mysteries With Theology.

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    1. Hello Michael,

      Thank you for visiting my Blog. It's nice to meet another Christian fiction writer. I'll look you up on Amazon.

      Some believe that you have to "work" your way into Heaven. I can understand that. I feel God invites all of us to Heaven, and wants us to love Him back and love each other. Many find the last bit very difficult.

      God bless.

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  9. "It is no point having faith in a Master who walks on water if we do not trust Him enough to follow Him."

    Victor #1, I'm sure that there are some atheist out in our world today who would sooner believe that the only reason Jesus walked on water was because He couldn't swim. LOL!

    If only all Christians had as much faith as you do!

    Keep "IT" UP.

    WHO'S LAUGHING?

    Please keep praying for me and my family.

    God Bless

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    1. Praying for you and your family.

      God bless you all.

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  10. Good day to you Victor. I am an off and on again Christian. I have ALWAYS had faith, but the trust is hard for me. I am new to your blog. I have had many trials in my life and still have them on going and I do battle within myself and God. But I know he loves me so much,I know Jesus died for me. I enjoyed the post. Thank you for making a difference in someones life.God Bless you, A new fan..Jaylena Echo

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    1. Hello Judybug,

      Thank you for taking the time to write in; and for reading my Blog.

      First of all, every Christian has difficulties from time to time with their faith and trust. Some, more so than others. Yes, we have battles too, not only with our faith but when things go wrong in our lives; as they certainly do in mine.

      When things are really bad, and our trust in God is perhaps getting shaky; I find the best thing to do is to tell God about it. Speak to Him as if you are speaking to a friend. Tell Him you like to trust Him more but you are having difficultites right now. Hand over whatever problem is on your mind to Him; and telling Him you trust Him to help you through the difficulties you face.

      I am praying for you right now.

      God bless you.


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  11. You are doing a good job of publicizing vital issues, and are quite correct that faith is not enough. The issue needs expanding beyond platitudes and sound-bites. Unless the person you have faith in is honest, faith is wasted. Trusting a dishonest person is self-destructive, so obviously we need to measure a person's honesty before faith and trust are warranted. The Gospels tell us that God is the God of truth, and the Devil is the father of all liars. So on the moral/ethical plane they are only separated by honesty, because faith and trust don't separate them at all, they both want those.

    Rev 22:15 tells us that no-one who loves and practises a lie will enter the final heaven. (There are at least two versions of heaven, one with violence in it according to Jesus. Matt 11:12). Now honesty is always a personal moral choice that cannot be taken away without turning people into robots. This means that the final version of heaven is in fact accessed by the 'works' we call honesty, and that a person's level of faith and trust is unimportant. Honesty can be defined as 'faith in truth, and that faith we need desperately, but without the 'truth' part faith is useless because it lacks the necessary doubt to discern dishonesty. Obviously honesty is all important otherwise we might all be led up the garden path by plausible but dishonest charlatans. With this being very obviously true, WHY IS HONESTY NOT LISTED AS A CARDINAL VIRTUE WHEN WE CAN'T GET INTO HEAVEN WITHOUT IT?

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    1. Thank you Anonymous for your comments.

      God bless you.

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