January 7, 2018

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Genesis 18:14.  "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed... Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

It's easy to believe, to have faith, when things make sense scientifically, when they meet the criteria of common sense, and in general, when they don't challenge our capacity to believe. Faith is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. I believe that our Father is challenging us continually to use it, to make it stronger, to build it up and expand it. I heard someone say that, Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't build all that muscle, by thinking about it, but by taking action, going to the gym and exercising. How important is it?  "And without faith, it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6)

Abraham is portrayed as a champion of faith. He chose to believe, in spite of things not making any sense at all. How could a 90 year old woman become pregnant and have a son? How can you go from childless, to father of many generations, and many kings? More than that, before he was able to see any of the promises, he was asked to take an action step. He was asked to circumcise all men in his household. I can only imagine how interesting it was for Abraham to explain that request from God, to the men, especially the adult ones. Yet he stepped in faith. He is our invitation to have faith, which is: "confidence in what we hope for, and assurance about what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). How important is it? "He must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like the wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does"(James 1, 2:6, 7).

I like that Abraham is also portrayed, as being familiar with the humans tendency of taking shortcuts when it comes to faith. Instead of stretching the muscle of faith and belief, we jump into making things happen, "helping God". He did agree with Sarah's plan to have a child with her maid. God shows us clearly, that the true blessings come from faith not from shortcuts.

The other day, I heard an interview with Carrie Wilkerson. She went from being a stay at home mom, extremely overweight, huge credit card debt, struggling with suicidal depression, to a published author, Google consultant, featured on CNN and Fox Business News, Success & Entrepreneur magazines, named by Forbes as a top small business influencer. When asked what was the secret of her huge transformation, she replied that, it all started with believing, and she quoted Proverbs 23:7 "for as he think in his heart, so is he".