Everyone on the earth has faith in someone or something; some believe in God and others on themselves and their works. All work hard to receive and enjoy the benefit of their hard work and no one wants to go to hell but only to heaven. Some are sure of their entry to heaven on the basis of their good works while others on the strength of their faith. How does faith lead us on the right paths and right works to be a blessing for others and also be blessed?
The true essence of faith – Hebrew word ‘Emunah’ translated as faith comes from the root word ‘aman’ which means ‘to securely trust and rely upon. The word ‘Amen’ also comes from this same word. Solomon, who was blessed with wisdom from God, said, ‘The fool believes everything, but the wise man seeks understanding’ (Proverbs 14:15). Many people think that faith is for those who cannot think for themselves but faith is a deep perception of truth that does not avoid reasoning but rises above it. Knowledge, wisdom and understanding increase faith and not diminish it, but it is not based on some reasoning. Those who do so are then carried away by a better reason in some other direction.
Faith based on truth, receives it and makes it a part of its very essence and being. The Shema prayer of the Jews is to hear, discern, understand, believe and then ‘love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength’ (Deuteronomy 6:5). Lord Jesus added to this command ‘with all your mind’ or with complete understanding and not blindly (Mark 12:30). The Saviour Lord loved God the Father in this manner and could submit and pray, ‘not what I will but what You will’ (Mark 14:36). Even a thief believes and prays to God to help him and promises to give a part of what he steals to God’s house. Many religious places have pools, to help the devotees cleanse themselves before going in. During the periodic cleaning of these pools much jewellery is also recovered. The thief knows there is a God but to turn away from stealing, he has to know that God and live in obedience.
We learn, understand, meditate upon God’s Word and then believe in salvation through the sacrifice of the Saviour on the cross. But during critical times, when faced with troubles, our faith falters. Faith is also like a muscle in the body which when not exercised for long will become weak. When we mould ourselves to see the presence and control of God over everything, then our faith becomes stronger. Job’s suffering was extreme, for God wanted to prove to the devil that a person can be faithful to God even in extreme suffering. He could answer his accusers, his three friends, ‘O earth, do not cover my blood, and let my cry have no resting place! Surely even now my witness is in heaven, and my evidence is on high’ (Job 16:18-19). During all his suffering, he accepted what God had given and never prayed nor sought his friends to pray for healing. He continued to maintain his life of righteousness.
The apostles, learnt from the Lord to forgive others and to do this, sought Him, ‘Increase our faith’ (Luke 17:5). Faith based on knowledge and understanding of God, becomes second nature and a habit to live by. The disciples struggled against the storm all night and on seeing Lord Jesus walking on water, Apostle Peter stepped out of the boat and did walk on water (Matthew 14:31). But when he looked at the wind, he feared and went under water. His cry was answered and the Lord ‘stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’
Adam had everything needed to live a joyful life in the Garden of Eden with authority over every created being. The only restriction was about the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ (Genesis 2:17). He was warned about the result of disobedience, ‘you shall surely die’. Devil as the serpent countered what God had said, and told Eve, ‘You will not surely die’ (Genesis 3:4). Unbelief in God and His Word led to their death, separation from God and from His abundance in the Garden. God desires us to ‘make disciples’ and a disciple is one who follows with understanding (Matthew 28:19-20). Another part of this same command is ‘teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you’. We learn, discern, understand and obey God’s Word to grow strong in faith and live by it.
Having strong faith in adversity – Every soul comes into the world in a pure and holy state but receives the sinful nature from the earthly parents. Adam and Eve disbelieved God, sinned and the weight of that was so heavy that the whole of mankind adopted wicked ways. God was ‘grieved in His heart; to see that state of mankind (Genesis 6:6). To correct that state, God revealed Torah, the first five books of the Holy Bible to Moses on Mount Sion. The Word was given, to change their perception of being slaves to evil to the chosen ones of God, His people. Despite this they continued to sin and followed the ways of others to worship their gods. Ahab the king of Israel married ‘Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Sidonians, and he went and served Baal and worshipped him’ (1 Kings 16:31). Sidon was the centre of Baal worship and the Israelites turned away from the LORD their God to worship Baal.
Prophet Elijah declared the Word of God to king Ahab, about drought and famine in the land for three years as a result of their sin (1 Kings 17:1-24). He was commanded by God to go and hide at the Brook of Cherith, where God made all provisions for him. When the brook dried up, God directed him to go to Zarephath in Sidon and a widow who had nothing, provided food for him. When suddenly her son died, Prophet Elijah raised him from the back to life.
After about 900 years, Lord Jesus, with the disciples, departed to Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21-28). There a woman from Canaan, whose daughter was demon possessed, came to Him. Noah’s son Ham saw his father’s indecent behaviour and instead of cursing him, Noan cursed Canaan, Ham’s descendant, and the Canaanites carry that curse (Genesis 9:25). But the perception that this woman had of herself, was not of a cursed but a blessed person, whose ancestor had cared for and was blessed by Prophet Elijah. When she cried out to the Lord, she was sure of healing for her daughter. But her faith and perception were severely tested by the Lord.
First, Lord Jesus ignored her cries for help and ‘answered her not a word’. Then, she tried to seek the disciples, but they also did not help and rather sought the Lord to ‘send her away, for she cries out after us’. For the woman, the purpose of her visit, healing of her daughter, was most important and persevered in her cries for help. Seeing the disciples’ reaction to the Lord, ‘she came and worshipped Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me’. So far, she was ignored by everyone, including the Lord, but then insulted. Never before had Lord Jesus, and even afterwards, used such words for anyone. He answered her, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs’. With so much, one would have given up and left, hoping for the answer from some other source.
Prophet Samuel had died and Saul was facing a large army of the Philistines in Shunem and ‘he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly’ (1 Samuel 28:3-10). In this desperate situation, he sought the Lord but received no answer. Many believers also seek alternative solutions as also people with no faith in the Lord, come to the Church. Saul told his servants to find him ‘a woman who is a medium’ and was taken to the witch of Endor. But not so the woman in Sidon and the word used by the Lord was not about large ferocious dogs, but little pet dogs and in this was the way provided for her. The woman immediately grabbed this clue and replied, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master’s table’. In this she first declared the Lord to be her Master and accepted her lowly status as a pet dog, that was loved and cared for by the master.
Lord Jesus taught the disciples through the parable of the widow and the unjust judge, ‘that men always ought to pray and not lose heart’ (Luke 18:1). The delay in answer to our prayers is not necessarily denial only but could be our preparation and a test for greater blessings. At this, Lord Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire’, and she was blessed by the Lord for her faith (Matthew 15:28).
The ladder to the treasure house of blessings is available to us through persevering in prayer. The past sinful baggage of our lives keeps us tied down and our perception about our present state as a child of God is never fully registered in us. We give up easily and lose the purpose of our prayers. Study, meditating upon the Word of God and fellowship with other believers, encourages us and strengthens our faith. In the Promised Land, the Jewish people were obligated to visit the Temple in Jerusalem on specified festivals. During the journey and the time spent in Jerusalem was a time to worship and be encouraged by the testimony of others. We remember the blessings received in the past and declare, ‘Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live’ (Psalm 116:2). This is the meaning of taking up the cross and following the Lord by dying to self and being totally committed to Him and looking up to Him in every situation.
Fulfilling the purpose of life – John the Baptist identified the Son of God to all others, saying, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ (John 1:29). Herod had him arrested and put in prison, ‘for the sake of Herodias, his brother Phillip’s wife’ (Matthew 14:3). On being put in prison for telling the truth, John was troubled in his mind. Lord Jesus performed many miraculous deeds, including the raising to life of the only son of a widow who had died (Luke 7:18-22). John the Baptist was informed of all this by his disciples in prison and like all the Jewish people, he also expected the Messiah, Lord Jesus, to topple the Roman empire and set up His kingdom over Israel, His chosen people. He sent two of his disciples to Lord Jesus to ask, ‘Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ They were told by the Lord to ‘go and tell John the things you have seen and heard’.
During a time of crisis, when our life is in danger and no answer to prayers is forthcoming, doubt creeps in. This doubt could be about God Himself or about one’s way of praying. But later the Lord declared, ‘among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he’. John had seen the Messiah as compared to the Old Testament Prophets, who had only prophesied about Him. But he was not blessed with the forgiveness of sins and the indwelling Holy Spirit, as every believer is. We have authority over the demonic spirits, who cannot harm us in any way (Luke 10:19-20). But our rejoicing is in the blessing of our names being ‘written in heaven’. As a result ‘our citizenship is in heaven’ and we are joint-heirs with Lord Jesus (Philippians 3:20).
Lord Jesus taught about sowing and reaping and then said, ‘the seed is the Word of God’ (Luke 8:11). The Word is sown in our mind and heart to learn, meditate upon and adopt as light for our ways. We are chosen and blessed people, but in times of distress forget everything and panic. The way to climb the ladder to be in God’s presence and a blessed state, is submission in abundance and in lack, both. Job suffered the death of all his children, loss of all his wealth and then bodily suffering also, still he could say,, in faith, ‘Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ (Job 2:10).
The Israelites were warned by Joshua, their leader, after they had settled down in the Promised Land. He said to the people, ‘Yiu cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions and your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm’ (Joshua 24:19-20). To be social and acceptable to others, many believers also join in the worship festivals of other religions. A large number of believers in India have lived following the traditions of other religions. Many find it difficult to give up certain things, even after turning to the Lord.
Barthimeus, the blind beggar first cried out to Lord Jesus for mercy, even when others told him to be quiet. When called by the Lord, ‘throwing aside his garment, he rose and went to Him’ (Mark 10:50-51). He deliberately discarded his old way of life, was healed of his blindness, ‘and followed Jesus on the road’.
Our Lord desires this type of total commitment and submission from His followers. Moses warned the people, ‘You must not worship the LORD your God in their way’ (Deuteronomy 12:4). The way to blessings, the ladder of prayer is right in front of us but we want to climb it in our way, carrying all our past traditions also with us, the past which Lord Jesus has already cleansed and sanctified us and set up apart for Himself. We definitely need to make the choice!
God being love is always ready to bless us, but like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we desire to eat the forbidden fruit as well as the from the Tree of Life. Once we take the right decision to follow the Lord and walk in His ways, the windows of heaven open up to shower abundant blessings on us. Making the right choice is our responsibility!
