Faith is BELIEVING When and What We CAN’T See!
One of the greatest challenges, and most rewarding, as we stand for the restoration of our marriages, is believing what we can’t see, when there’s no reasonable or rational reason to believe it! After all, IF there’s reason or evidence that causes us to believe or expect something, no faith is required. And Hebrews 11:6 reveals why this is so important, because it says 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. And Hebrews 10:38 even says But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” So when we’re faced with what appear to be impossible situations, instead of fearing and dreading them, we should welcome them as opportunities to pleas God by demonstrating our trust and faith in Him. Finding ourselves in “impossible” situations is exactly when we can count on the Lord to come through for us, because Jesus said so, as we see in Mark 10:27, which says Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” And to make sure there’s NO doubt about what God expects when He tells us to have faith, we only have to read Hebrews 11:1, which says Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. And it is by no means just a coincidence that Psalm 119:105 says Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. , and that Romans 10:17, then says Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. So we can find our way through dark and difficult times by understanding and relying on God’s Word. And we have Jesus’ assurance that when we do that, He will not leave us to walk in darkness, because John 8:12 says When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” And then in John 12:46, Jesus said I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. So the danger of concluding the outcome of our stand for marriage restoration during times of darkness, is that we will miss out on the awesome promise the Lord gives us in 1 Corinthians 4:5, which says Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. That tells me that if we continue to trust God even when our circumstances look the darkest and the most hopeless, walking by faith and not by sight, WE will receive praise from God! And when, even in our darkest hours, we continue to stand on the power and promise of God’s Word, we fulfill God’s call on our lives as described in 1 Peter 2:9, which says But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
This past week, there’s been an awful lot of discussion on the private sites about walking through difficult times and putting our faith in God, and God alone, so I appreciate Thursa’s permission to share the following Heart To Heart message, which she posted on the ladies’ site yesterday. And the next time darkness threatens, just remember God’s awesome promise in Psalm 37:4-6, which says Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. When we remember that, we can’t help being blessed and encouraged!
I am still reading Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. And I have taken my time to read it so that I could absorb certain parts that seem to always come at just the right time! This time I read the section that spoke quite loudly to me after I had already taken a “faith walk” and it confirmed many things that I felt God had been telling me! So I thought I’d share this section as is, because it was very powerful to me, which I hope it will be to you as well, since we are all continuing on our “faith walk” of marriage restoration.
“My problem is that I like light better than darkness. But if I can see what God is doing — how He is working everything together for good — then I don’t need faith. But still I want to see. I think we all have this problem. We say we want more faith, but really what we want is sight. Sight says, “I see that it’s good for me, so God must have sent it, “but faith says, “God sent it, so it must be good for me.” God asks us to walk by faith, not by sight. Faith is walking in the dark with God, holding His hand.
God doesn’t keep us immune from trouble. He says, “I will be with you in trouble.” In the book of Exodus, we find the children of Israel camped by the edge of the Red Sea. It was night, pitch black except for the pillar of fire God had placed between His people and the Egyptians. Can you imagine their fear? The screaming threats of the enemy filtered through the darkness. What would they do when dawn broke? Each mother hugged her child to her breast in fear that this would be their last night.
Who could have imagined the miracle that awaited them? Hidden in the text is the tiny phrase, “All that night the Lord drove the sea back” (Exodus 14:21). While the Israelites were quaking in their boots, the miracle occurred “all that night.” Because it was night, they couldn’t see what the “wind of God” was accomplishing on their behalf. God parted the Red Sea, and they walked on dry ground to freedom.
Perhaps your life is filled with darkness and you can’t see. Still God is working, just as He worked “all that night” for the Israelites. The next day simply manifested what God had done during the night. Do not forget, my friend, that God works in the night of your life, too.”