Faith is Only as Good as the Object in Which it is Placed – Part 2

04 Apr Faith is Only as Good as the Object in Which it is Placed – Part 2

If we believe, we obey

As we’ve been seeing in the last few blog posts, if we don’t want our life going off the rails, we must keep “Facts, Faith and Feelings” in their proper order. Facts are the engine of life. And facts are what give us an object worthy of our faith.

When it comes to faith, many of us are like the man you’ve likely heard of who was walking along a narrow path paying little attention to where he was going. Suddenly he slipped over the edge of a cliff. As he fell, he grabbed a branch growing from the side of the cliff. Realizing that he couldn’t hang on for long, he yelled, “Help! Is anybody up there?”

A great, booming voice answered, “Yes, I’m here.”
“Who’s that?” the man asked.
“I’m your guardian angel,” the great booming voice replied.
“Help me!”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes, I trust you completely!”
“Then let go of the branch,” the angel said.
“What?!”
“Let go of the branch.”
There was a long pause. Finally, the man yelled, “Is there anybody else up there?”

When we get into life’s scrapes, when we flounder for direction, when we ache for consolation, when we yearn for fellowship, when we are desperate for deliverance, we cry out to God for help. But then, when the Lord makes it clear what we are to do, we often wonder if there is “anybody else up there!”

In spite of the fact that God’s way is not necessarily easy, it is always the best way. The more completely we believe that, the better our lives will go and the more our lives will be a testimony to the grace and sufficiency of the Lord. The fact is, the shortest distance between us and the life we long for is total obedience to Christ, and we need to place our faith in that fact.

What should we believe?

So what has God said we should believe? Well, there is much. However, there are a few key things that are crucial to living the Christian life, things that if we do not know or believe, we are limited in our walk with the Lord.

1. We believe that God exists, in spite of the fact that He cannot be proved. That is the obvious starting point.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him
2. We believe that God is good, in spite of the rampant evil in the world. Luke 18:19 says “No one is good except God alone.”
3. Third, we believe that He loves us, in spite of the fact that He does not make our life go better. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
4. We believe that the Bible is the word of God and can be fully trusted in all things to which it speaks. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ways, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
5. Finally, we believe that everything God asks of us is to give something good to us or keep some harm from us, and that therefore, the shortest distance between us and the life we long for is total obedience to Him. And we give ourselves over to the God we have accepted and the truth He has revealed. As Scripture says, “We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Of course, that is a metaphor, so we ask ourselves what is the truth it is pointing to?  Some facets of the answer could include:
   • Living life in light of eternal consequences and truth
   • Choosing God over people
   • Obeying God even when it conflicts with personal desires
   • Doing the right thing over doing the wrong thing
   • Choosing the truth of the Bible over human insight

This is merely a representative list and not an exhaustive one, and obviously, these are broad and general truths that take effort to perceive and act on. But to keep this big picture in mind as we move forward in our walk of faith can help guide and keep us on track.

We increase our faith by starting where we are and building on it

How can we increase our faith? I read one time of a suspension bridge that was planned to span a wide gorge out west. Everything about the building of the bridge seemed fairly straightforward except how to get started. Finally, someone came up with an ingenious strategy. They shot an arrow from one side to the other. The arrow carried a tiny thread across the gulf. The thread was used to pull a piece of twine across, the twine pulled after it a small rope, the rope soon carried a cable across, and in time came the iron chains that the bridge was to hang from.

This is much like faith, or any number of things in life that need to be strengthened. We start with where we are, and grow from there. Although often weak in its beginning stages, a seemingly small faith can draw us to a stronger and stronger faith that will be used by God in greater and greater ways.

• The beginning point…  the arrow shooting the first thread over the gorge… is to accept that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere-simultaneously and all-good. Therefore, he is worthy of being trusted.
• Next, the twine that follows, is that if we trust God, we obey Him, and if we do not obey Him, it is because we do not trust Him. So, we must tie our obedience to our faith, and choose to trust in the one whom we believe to be trustworthy. The opposite of obedience is not disobedience. The opposite of obedience is unbelief. If we need to be more disciplined in our Christian life, we focus on faith, not self-discipline.
• The rope that follows is to fill our minds with the Scriptures that teach and verify the wisdom of trusting and obeying. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Trials are like spiritual exercise machines that God uses to make us spiritually fit. So, we trust that fact, we trust God in the hard times of life and strive to be obedient to all we understand He is asking of us.

We tie our study of Scripture to our decision to trust the One we have accepted as trustworthy. We accept that the trials God brings into our life are the very means He uses to make us spiritually strong. We study passages that make the link between faith and obedience and we observes examples of faithful obedience in Scripture, to glean insight into our own lives.

• Next, the cable we pull across the gorge is to memorize and mentally rehearse key “faith” and “obedience” passages, to burn their truth deeply into our minds and hearts
• Finally, the chains that hold the “bridge” of faith is prayer and communion with God. This is actually a part of all the levels of faith –  asking the Lord to increase and strengthen our faith. In a powerful prayer in Psalm 139:23-24, we read, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” It is a mark of the normal Christian life that no matter where we are in our walk with the Lord, we will likely feel that our faith is weak and in need of strengthening. This prayer opens us to a deep work of God as He brings into our lives all that we need to strengthen our faith.

So, this is not a hard and fast analogy, but it helps us understand a process we can use to cooperate with God in the pursuit of greater Biblical faith. As we look to the Lord and His Word, as we pray to Him to work in our hearts, we strengthen each step of the process, and pursue an increasingly mature relationship with Him.

Beyond those overarching principles, here are some obvious practical ways we can begin:

• Be faithful to the spiritual disciplines of reading the Bible, praying, going to church, integrating your life with other Christians, etc.
• Read books and/or search the internet to read/watch stories of people who have exercised strong faith in obedience to the truths of Scripture.
• Join or create a spiritual accountability group that focuses on this authentic pursuit of the Lord.

Conclusion

God’s way is always the best way. The more completely we believe that, the better our lives will go and the more our lives will be a testimony to the grace and sufficiency of the Lord. The fact is, the shortest distance between us and the life we long for is total obedience to Christ. As we believe that and obey that reality, our faith strengthens and grows and transforms us more and more into the character image of Christ.

Next week we’ll look at how “Feelings” work on our “train track of life,” and making sure they don’t derail us. See you then!

For previous posts in this series, the entire “Helpful Tips for Saving Yourself from Trouble” series is in the archives, beginning with the first post on July 26, 2022, Happiness: King Solomon’s Conclusion.

If you know anyone who you think might enjoy joining us in this series, please forward this blog to them and encourage them to go to www.maxanders.com and sign up for the free video, “Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You”, available there on the home page. This will put them on my regular mailing list and they’ll receive my weekly blog.

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