Humbly Seeking and Believing
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Introduction: How do we display our faith?
How do we exercise our faith? What is faith, after all, if not trusting - believing God.
What has happened recently in your life in which you have consciously said, “That was God’s work. I trusted Him for the outcome, and he provided, brought me through, worked it out.”
I believe that it is probably the common experience for believers that the intensity of their faith is on a continuum, with seasons and waves, highs and lows.
At the heights, you may have utmost assurance, a feeling of God’s presence in your daily life, a hunger for hearing from Him in His word, you run to prayer at the slightest opportunity, you are delighted to fellowship with your brothers and sisters, and you are quick to speak the name of the Lord to those around you.
In the doldrums, though, the opposite side of the coin, you may feel that God is distant. You may feel that the Bible has become bland or seems repetitive. You may tire of the same old religion. Its not that you don’t believe, its just that it seems dry.
David
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Psalm 74, - Asaph - “How Long? Where are you.” vs. 9 - “We don’t see any sign of your work, your prophets are all gone, and nobody knows what you are doing.”
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
In the same Psalm!
We may face seasons of dryness, but we should seek God for the joy and the liveliness of our faith.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
We have a great cause for faith, and we have a great expectation to press on toward - everlasting life, salvation, all things being made new.
On the day to day, how should that come out? It may not always come out in big ways, but it should come out in humbly seeking and believing God. That’s what we see in this passage today.
Big Picture:
Artarxerxes had appointed Ezra to go and establish the law of God, and teach the people.
Ezra brought a band of fellow workers with him. These were from 12 families, about 5,000 men. Leading men from the community, especially the Levites who would be able to uphold the worship in the Temple, as they were the right hand helpers to the priests.
They come as a group as far as “River that Runs to Ahava.” A Canal, most likely, on the way out of Babylon. A rallying point. A point of no return.
Once everyone is together, and before the journey begins, Ezra declares a fast.
Read 8:21-23
Three basic elements of expression of faith here. Nothing outside the normal means of God’s work, but we often take for granted the elements here.
Earnest Devotion in fasting and prayer is humbly seeking God by faith.
Earnest Devotion in fasting and prayer is humbly seeking God by faith.
1. Humbled Before God
1. Humbled Before God
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Humility before God is honest
about shortcomings
about failures
about limitations
Humility before God is not presumptuous
not presuming what we are asking for is the best
not presuming that God must do this or that
not presuming, meaning we actually ask, we actually consider it a need
Humility before God acknowledges God
His Character
His Power
His Sovereignty
Humility before God is ready for the answer
2. Earnestly Seeking Him
2. Earnestly Seeking Him
Humility before God places us in the right frame of mind to seek Him, to seek His hand, to seek His favor.
Humility before God gives us a right view toward God, a right expression of our need.
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
“I really, really want this.”
Good advice - don’t act on an impulse. Wait a day, a week, a month.
Anyone admit to an impulse purchase?
Tool in my shop that is still in the original packaging. Saw it, had to have it. It was going to revolutionize the way I did certain things. Collecting dust, had to blow it off to even remember that I bought it.
Contrast - something we really want. Camera, teenager, working carrying barrels up the hill.
Are there “impulse desires” to seek God? Certainly.
Nationally, during a disaster
Personally, during loss or tragedy
Desiring and seeking God is not a spark and a letdown, it is a lifestyle - a walk of faith. Maybe ebbs and flows, but there is an overall consistency.
How is that desiring and seeking and desire played out? What does it look like?
It affects daily decisions, daily routine.
It affects long-term and big decisions
It affects the kinds of places you seek for advice and wisdom
It colors the world shades of “God’s Kingdom” and sees all kinds of obstacles as opportunities.
“Where is God in this?” can be a lament, but it can also be a shifting of focus.
In this case, Fasting
Back in Matthew, a pretty deep study of Fasting.
For followers of Jesus, fasting is not an empty ritual, but a time of private and earnest devotion; seeking the will of God, not recognition by men.
Must we fast?
No command, but certainly an expectation.
Should we fast?
Yes - in varying degrees at various times, it is a measure of humble devotion and seeking God.
What is fasting not?
Not a “gotcha” card before the Lord
Not a ritual that gains us favor or makes us a better Christian
Not a public display
Not a magic formula.
What is fasting?
It goes back to humility
Recognizes the need
Places importance on seeking God
Coupled with prayer, it demonstrates to our own spirit “This is needed, this is worth it, this is important.”
3. Driven By Faith, Driven To Faith
3. Driven By Faith, Driven To Faith
What does “faith look like?”
Contrast Ezra and Nehemiah
“No military help, that’s a lack of faith.”
“I got military help, thank the Lord!”
Both sought the Lord, gave him the credit, saw his means of providing as absolutely necessary, believed that He did it.
What we believe drives us to believe it.
How did I get here?
I believe the Gospel - that Jesus came, lived, died, and rose again.
If I say I believe that, how does that kind of power of God bear on my life right now.
Do we think that our statements about God are checks he can’t cash? Have they become lofty?
