By Gretchen Gardose Holder
Christians always want God’s affirmation. They wait for God’s go signal and God’s push for them to do anything. If they do not hear anything from God, they will not move. They will and can just sit there waiting for His word.
What is faith? In 2 Corinthians 5:7, the Bible says, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” What does that mean? At the same time, the Bible also says that “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans 10:17) It does not say faith comes from having heard. The whole nature of faith implies a relationship form God. It does not say “I heard from God,” but “I am. Hearing from God.” Hearing from God is a process. As you live your life, He needs to always speak to you. The relationship has to be current, emphasizing on the hearing, and the hearing is now. People do not know what is going to happen in the next minute, hour or day. But they will take action when they hear God’s word. They do not need encouragement every step of the way because they know God is with them.
Hebrews 11 talks about godly people who walk in faith. Their lives are all accounted for in these verses. God knew them because of their faith and it is fascinating. God knows them by name and their name is written in the Bible. Verse 1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
What is it in these people that God knew them by name? Abel brought God a better offering. Enoch was taken because he was known to please God. Noah had a holy fear and because of that he built the ark. Abraham obeyed and went to receive his inheritance. Abraham also sacrificed Isaac when God tested him. Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. Joseph spoke about the Exodus. Moses’ parents hid him. He also refused to be known as the son of pharaoh’s daughter and left Egypt and kept the passover. The Israelites passed through the Red Sea. The army marched at the walls of Jericho and it fell. Rahab welcomed the spies. God labelled them as faithful because they did something. All by faith.
These faithful servants of God did not know what was going to happen next. But all because of faith, they obeyed Him. In your Christian walk, sometimes you feel like it is very difficult to pursue what God is telling you to do. But God says faith is not by sight. You cannot see it. When you look at these accounts in the Bible, you will notice that they did not see what was going to happen next. But they obeyed. And because of that, God knew them by name.
Sometimes, it is difficult to pursue what God is asking you to do. The people in the Bible walked by faith. Even if God did not speak to them, they knew that God is with them all the time. As a Christian, you will experience these things. You may feel dry and not hear God for a long time. You may feel that He is not there. But really, God has not left you. And He will not leave you ever. God is always and will always be there. That is why He gave you the gift of faith. Faith will bring you to the victorious life that He has promised you.
Bill Johnson once said, “Faith is not the result of striving. It is the result of surrender.” Sometimes you think if you push more something will happen. It is when you stop doing anything that God moves. It is not what the flesh can do but what you spirit can do. He also said, “You only have authority over the storm that you can sleep in.” How can you have authority over the storm if you keep fighting it? If you are confident and know that God is fighting the storm for you, then you have already won. If you can sleep through the storm, you will wake up the next morning and it is gone. “Bold faith stands on the shoulder of quiet trust,” said Bill Johnson too. You know that God is giving you the authority and strong faith to trust in Him.