In Self We Trust? (ATP)
It’s not that I don’t believe or trust God and His word but I don’t believe or trust myself to do the things right that I need to to make the word work for me. When I don’t see things come to pass I wonder where I missed it.
Hebrews 6:11-12 (NKJV)
And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
One thing in my experience that I have noticed is that rarely what I have “believed” for has come to pass instantly. I’m not saying that God never brings things fast, it just isn’t my usual experience. I believe this is because God desires us to find contentment in Him and not in getting what we desired.
Standing on the Word produces in us a certain wherewithal that makes us better at dealing with adversity. We see this truth reflected in John 20:29. It reads, Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” There is something real precious to God when we trust Him simply because He said it. The Bible never promises us instant gratification. In fact, the only instant truth I’m aware of is that of salvation. However here is an interesting point: at the reception of salvation, all the saving we will ever get has already happened. Therein lies the faith! 1 John 5:15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
We don’t earn salvation or anything that comes with it. Remember, Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” You obtain it through faith, yet your goodness or ability has absolutely nothing to do with it. Just your believing does! Do you believe God’s word? Many will say yes kind of as a blanket but don’t really dig into it to truly see. People will say I believe this but not that. You cannot pick and choose! It is either truth or it is not, it cannot be both!
Now I say these things not to knock you down and prove you have no faith. I say them to get you to refocus your faith. You don’t have to trust yourself, you shouldn’t trust yourself, you absolutely cannot trust yourself! So stop trying. God never said have faith in you, He said have faith in God! Remember what Jesus said in Mark 11:22? So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.”
Another thing I want to say is that you do not have to make the Word work for you. That would put the ball (the works) back in your court. The Word works despite you, despite me, or despite anyone… even Jesus. Wait! What? That’s right, that was not a typo. The Word works even aside from Jesus! Now, let me explain. John 5:19 says, “Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.’” Do you think it was an accident that things worked this way? Jesus did things like this to show us, we are not the key factor, trust in God is! How perfect is that?
One of the greatest hindrances to our faith is learning to let go of us. This is precisely why we are directed to crucify the flesh. The flesh has been corrupted and therefore no longer desires to do God’s will. It only seeks to please itself. When we recognize that, then we can start letting go of it and truly live for Him. God saved us when we were at our worst. Don’t try and bring the Word down to you, let the Word bring you up to Him! The Word works, every time, we just need to believe it!
Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff
