Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. – Augustine
It is true. People who pray and believe God for things regularly see them come to pass. We have three couples in our church who, after many years, had no children. Each of them began to pray and have faith in God to give them a child. We have seen each one receive a healthy baby even though each couple had to wait ten years.
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Yes, there is a reward for faith. God is not the great disappointer in the sky, the great illusive Someone somewhere who never answers. Praying in faith is not like a Post-Note at the office that sort of gets mislaid somewhere. No, faith in God produces real results. Things tangible.
The writer of Hebrews says, “faith is the substance of things hoped for…” Real tangible things, like restored families, jobs, health, good marriages, clean consciences, children who do right. Real things!
But I know some people from the intellectual community see faith as a crutch for the weak, valium for the non-thinkers, an excuse to be lazy for the non-academic. Some might even say, “I just do not want to be insincere, or disingenuous. I just cannot believe in what I do not see.” They may even think, “I wish I could be like those I see trusting God for the things of life!”
Well, they can. The reason is that God gives faith. He gives to man the ability to believe and trust Him. I think this is rather humbling, because it means we cannot even trust Him without His help!
Ephes. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God…
God so desires to help us that He gives us faith. In fact, Jesus expected people to live a life of faith. He regularly rebuked His own disciples for not exercising faith. At one point Jesus’ disciples are in a boat in the middle of the sea. There is a great storm going on and the boat is being flooded. The disciples believe they are going to drown. Where is Jesus at this time?
Mark 4:38 (NIV) Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
That sounds like us, doesn’t it? “God, don’t you care about me? Can’t you see all this trouble in my home? Don’t you care?!”
Look at Jesus’ response to these disciples:
Mark 4:39-40 (NIV) He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
See, He expected them to use the faith they already had. Instead of being fearful, He expected them to be faithful, full of faith. Jesus believed that things would work out if faith was exercised. He believes the same thing about you. He knows if YOU will exercise faith, the things that drive others to despair will cause you to experience a miraculous provision. It is true. After Jesus began His ministry, He returned to his home town to minister. The people there refused to believe and trust Him. It is significant that their unbelief was so strong that Jesus could not do ANY miracles!
Mark 6:5-6 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
Jesus was amazed at them. I wonder if He is ever amazed at us. I wonder if He ever thinks, “If they would just trust Me, I could do so much for them!” Let’s continually be amazed at His power and never cause Him to be amazed at us.