Living By Faith

Our relationship with God is not one of blind trust, no relationship is.

Opportunities to build trust may start off with small things, such as showing up on time for a meet up, or observing one another in everyday interactions.

Over the course of time, and through innumerable interactions, both pleasant and initially unpleasant, the trust between those involved either grows, or it fractures and dissolves. But it all depends on the responses of those involved.

Let’s look at Abraham.

Genesis 12:1–4 HCSB

1 The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

When God initially calls us, it is to a place that we haven’t been. Its an unknown place, a place that others may not follow us in going.

There should be an element of Supernatural interaction between you and God.

God SPOKE to Abram, and throughout his life, God continued to interact with Abram, and Abram with Him. There was relationship!

When God directs us to do something, it is hardly ever “easy”. It may take us doing something that we’re not comfortable with (not to include inappropriate things), or tasks that are just hard and seemingly impossible by our own individual efforts. But through them we can see God work, we can see Him step in and do what cannot be done otherwise.

One thing to note about Abram’s trust in God is that it led to ACTION.

Action must always accompany faith/trust in God.

When Jesus’ cousin John the baptist begins his ministry, the first thing he tells those listening is to repent, but repentance, which is connected to trust in God and what He is saying, requires action.

Luke 3:7–14 HCSB

7 He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 9 Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 “What then should we do?” the crowds were asking him. 11 He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.” 14 Some soldiers also questioned him: “What should we do?” He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation; be satisfied with your wages.”

John expected that those who truly believed that God sent him would respond with action.

So too Jesus expected His disciples, Christians, to respond to His teachings, His Commandments, with action:

John 14:23–24 HCSB

23 Jesus answered, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 The one who doesn’t love Me will not keep My words. The word that you hear is not Mine but is from the Father who sent Me.

So when we are first coming to God, or God is trying to deepen our relationship with and to Him, as well as deepen our development in Him, we must respond with action.

But when we respond, know there may be opposition, but know that somewhere God will be there to strengthen us.

If we need to go through the process of being Reborn (Born Again) into His family, we need to take action to enter into His Family.

If God is pulling us in a certain direction, we need to proceed, but also ask Him to connect us to people that will walk with us during the journey.

Some people will be with us for the long haul, and others may be with us for just that stretch of the journey, but through it all, we must respond to God with faith.