Living by Faith

When we encounter the word “faith” what comes into mind? I remember Abraham who obeyed God even the cost is the life of his only son. He eventually became the father of faith. By faith, Joseph persevered amidst the trials where he was sold to slavery in Egypt, put inside the prison to the crime he didn’t commit and eventually promoted as second in command of Pharaoh. The timid Moses led the hard-headed Israelites out of Egypt to the promise land via the wilderness. By faith, God sustained Moses for the period of 40 years. God’s people finally entered Canaan through the leadership of Joshua who replaced Moses. By faith, Joshua as a warrior leader occupied the land by conquering one enemy stronghold at a time. There were a lot of heroes of faith mentioned in the Bible who lived by faith in the midst of prosperity and crisis.

It is said, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God”. (Hebrews 11:6) Jesus said, “If you have faith as small as the mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea and it will obey you.” (Luke 17:6) Do you know that the word “faith” was mentioned more or less 400 times in the Bible. Meaning, this is how important faith to God. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

What is living by faith? Living by faith is putting our trust on God moment by moment. When we want to listen to the favorite program of a local radio station, we tune-in to the right frequency, isn’t it? Same with God, if we desire to live by faith, let us always set ourselves to His will. It is praying without ceasing, while walking, driving, we doing our office work, and whatever we’re doing. Every time I visit a mall, I whisper a simple prayer to provide a parking. Simple prayer as it is when God answered it, my faith increase.

Living by faith also means, we depend on God in every areas of life. Though savings, good health and stable job are important to survive in this life and fulfill His purposes. In God’s kingdom, it is not about how much wealth we gathered or how many toys we collected, or how famous and powerful we are. But how we live by faith and how many souls we won for Christ.

I can’t think of a man who lives by faith in our world today other than Billy Graham. He is indeed a man of faith who has been living God’s redemption, plan for every person and love for sinners. He does not trust his public speaking ability, pleasing personality and par excellence qualities but has an implicit faith in God to do His work through him. When his late mother was interviewed what enable Billy to be such instrument of God. She replied, “I don’t know exactly, but I do know this one thing: Billy gave his life to God and he has faith to believe that God has chosen him to be a person through whom God can do His work. He has implicit faith.” What a man of faith!

Are we living by faith or by sight? It is God’s designed for us to live by faith in total dependence on Him alone! It is not on our connection, personality, competence and strength that matters to God. As Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) Amen!

 

Obstacle is the Way

Before breakfast, every Navy SEAL trainee has to pass through a set of obstacle courses as fast as he can. If you were a trainee, obstacle course would be the first menu of the day. This unique facility is aimed at developing upper body strength and muscle, improving balance, coordination, and gaining confidence in performing activities at the certain heights. Every trainee must carry out these challenging activities to transform him from a “tadpole” to a “bull frog”. The ultimate goal of the training is to build men of courage willing to risk their lives for an impossible mission at an unknown destination.

According to the Cambridge Online Dictionary, an obstacle is something that blocks you way so that movement or progress is prevented or made more difficult. For the sake of our discussion, we will refer to obstacle as any trial or challenge in life.

The word of God in James 1:2-4 says,

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

James doesn’t say in this passage, “if” but “whenever” you face trials.  He Meaning, he assumes that trials are a part and reality of life and that it is possible to benefit from it. His point is that we don’t pretend to be happy when experiencing pain, but to have a positive outlook (consider it pure joy) because of what trials can produce in our lives. He tells us to turn our hardship and tough times to times to opportunities to learn perseverance and mold character.

I remember one of my favorite songs when I face trials entitled, “Thank You Lord (for the trials that come my way)”. The song is about thanking God for any trials rather than raising complaints. Amidst the trials, the writer tells of the positive side of letting him grow and gain patience. Trials also allow him to draw close to God and it is good to thank God for the victory that growing and learning bring. It is a great opportunity to feel God’s abiding presence in the middle of storms in life.

I came upon a video clip that showed a man carrying a cross with two other guys each a similar cross. The man complained regarding the heavy weight and the uncomfortable feeling while dragging his cross. So, he chopped the cross and made it shorter to make it lighter and easy to bear. After a whole day of painful struggle, they came to a cliff and only way was to use the cross as a bridge. The other two easily crossed since the length was just right. But the man couldn’t since his cross was shorter. In life, similar situations happen where sometimes we protest to God for the heavy burdens we bear. Without us knowing, those burdens make us stronger and more mature for us to survive the greater challenges ahead.

Obstacles in life will make us stronger and make our muscles firmer to prepare us for any disappointment and discouragement would come along our way. Sometimes God uses obstacles to prepare us in receiving God’s blessing. In order to prevent us from being proud but consider others better than ourselves. His goal is our maturity not the good life and blessings we want.
Are we facing obstacle/s in life? Yes, it is annoying and painful but consider it as opportunity to learn and focus on what we will become after hurdling it. I believe that obstacle is the way to greater blessings ahead. Amen!

Listening: The Key in Seeking God’s Heart

Once upon a time, a telegraph was the fastest means of long distance communication. A certain young man applied for a job as Morse Code operator he found in a newspaper advertisement. He went to the specific address and entered a large and noisy office with a telegraph clacking in the background. He filled-up the application form and after a few minutes he stood up and walked into the inner office. The other applicants were wondering what’s going on and muttered among themselves why they were not yet called. After the few minutes, the young man emerged with an interviewer and it was announced that the job had been filled by him. The other applicants were grumbling and saying it was not fair. It was explained that while this young man was sitting, he listened and interpreted the message from the ticking telegraph.

The word of God in Proverbs 2:1-5 said,

“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

The author of the book of Proverbs is Solomon and David his father had a strong influence on him. In these words of wisdom from Solomon, I want to highlight “making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding. He stressed the two parts of the body- ear and heart, which are essential in knowing God’s will. In listening to voice of God, we can know also the heart of God.

Day by day, we have been bombarded and influenced by a lot of voices around us. With the influence of the book we read, people we listened to, the social media and the internet, and the leaders we admired, it is now impossible to hear clearly God’s voice. When we are facing a dead end career and big decisions in life, how we can attentively listen to wisdom and incline our heart to understanding?

When I face with the same dilemma, I seriously arranged my schedule well to have time of silence and solitude with God. For instance, I want to block my schedule to attend a prayer meeting and time alone walking or jogging. In these situations, I prayed desperately to God pouring out my frustrations, doubts and grieving for the loss of valuable things in life like my decorated military and corporate career to please Him. Amazingly, after doing so, it seemed that a ton of baggage was unloaded. Days had passed, I am beginning to accept His plan and the delight in serving Him is back. As what Rev. Chuck Swindoll said, “I don’t want to go back to that “corny” job again”. Amen!

I want to end with this question for our reflection. With a lot of voices around us, whom are we listening? Is it ourselves? the world around us? our co-workers and friends… or the social media? I don’t categorically say that having social media accounts are not good. But, be careful, this might become enemy’s trap to prevent us from diligently seeking God’s will. Watch our hearts when we see our friends riding their shiny cars, having position of influence in high places, vacationing in foreign countries and so on and so forth.

Before any decision, ask: Is this consistent with God’s will for my life? – Charles Stanley
“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” – Exodus 15:26