What kind of faith does it take to trust what God says with confidence and assurance?
It takes:
• A TRAINED FAITH
To be able to trust God and what He says through His Word, you must go through times of preparation. And many times that preparation requires a time of solitude and isolation for preparation of the heart.
Moses is an example. In forty years in Egypt Moses had learned the skills of worldly leadership, how to be a leader of men. In “God’s School of the Desert” he was taught for forty years the qualities of spiritual leadership: patience, maturity, and sensitivity in listening to the voice of God.
Years later Joseph spent a number of years in an Egyptian prison because he was unjustly accused. But those years of obscurity prepared him for promotion to Prime Minister of the Egypt.
The Apostle Paul, following his conversion spent 3 years in obscurity in Arabia. While he was there God was preparing him to be the great missionary to the Gentiles.
Abraham’s “faith training” gave him confidence in God. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God. Romans 4:20
It takes:
• AN OBEDIENT FAITH
Don’t expect God to give you further direction in life until you follow the directions He’s already given you. If you’re confused over the will of God for your life today, it may be the result of not obeying what He’s already told you to do. Do what God has already told you to do and He will direct you life.
The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come. Proverbs 4:18 (GNB)
It takes:
• A CHALLENGED FAITH
God told Elijah to go to the Kerith Ravine and stay there. God caused the ravens to bring him bread and meat twice a day, and he drank from the brook. Then in 1 Kings 17:7 it says, Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
What do you do when your brook dries up? What do you do when your supply starts to run out? When this happens to us sometimes we cry out, “Lord what happened?” Where did I go wrong? Didn’t you tell me to come here and wait and you would provide for me? How can I be in the center of your will and my brook is drying up?”
The reason we think that is because we tend to think that we are in the center of God’s will as long as everything is going great. Have you ever thought that maybe you’re still in the center of His will when the brook dries up? When our brook dries up we’re tempted to think that God’s power has stopped. But “drying brooks” are not an indication of God forsaking us. It’s only an indication that God is changing the source of His supply. God always knows what He’s doing and you’re always in His care. When you’re serving the Lord, you are often called to sit by “drying brooks.”
F.B. Meyer says, “Many of us have had to sit by drying brooks; perhaps some are sitting by them now –the drying brook of popularity, ebbing away as it did from John the Baptist. The drying brook of health, sinking under a creeping paralysis or a slow decline. The drying brook of money, slowly dwindling before the demands of sickness, bad debts or other people’s extravagance. The drying brook of friendship, which for long has been diminishing, and threatens soon to cease. Ah, it is hard to sit beside a drying brook…. Why does God let them dry? He wants to teach us not to trust in his gifts but in Himself. Let us learn these lessons, and turn from our failing Keriths to our unfailing Savior. All sufficiency resides in Him!”
Put your dependence, not in the gifts, but in the Gift Giver. Be willing to trust God even when your daily provisions fail. Our trust is not in the “daily provisions.” Instead our trust is in the Lord, The Provider. He’s going to provide for you, but He may change the source of His supply for you.
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As I sit here this morning during my quiet time with the Lord reading your message I realize that I often have left the drying brook to search for my own source of water. How sad that for so many years I've not had the patience through faith to wait for my change of supply. No wonder I often feel like I'm wandering in a desert of hopelessness. Tomorrow, I will be attending a very important meeting which has the potential to improve the lives of many disabled individuals or to leave them feeling helpless by the loss of services they desperately need. Lord I just pray that I not get caught up in the bureaucracy of this world and that my faith in your power to meet their needs, according to your will, will be evident in my words, and actions. Help me to know that a drying brook is yet another opportunity to draw close to you. Bless David and his ministry in your great and powerful way. He is a wonderful example of a faith-filled life.
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