TRUE FAITH... AS THE FIRST RESPONSE

Ezekiel 12:1-14:11; Hebrews 7:1-17; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 27:3

“Son of man, you live among rebels who have eyes but refuse to see. They have ears but refuse to hear. For they are a rebellious people…. Son of man, you’ve heard that proverb they quote in Israel: ‘Time passes, and prophecies come to nothing.’ Tell the people, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will put an end to this proverb, and you will soon stop quoting it.’ Now give them this new proverb to replace the old one: ‘The time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled!’”

“And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.”

“The Lord spread a cloud above them as a covering and gave them a great fire to light the darkness. They asked for meat, and he sent them quail; he satisfied their hunger with manna—bread from heaven. He split open a rock, and water gushed out to form a river through the dry wasteland. For he remembered his sacred promise to his servant Abraham.”

“A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.”

There is a very human temptation to give up on God in the midst of adversity. The idea that the Holy Spirit will reach down and lift us out of trials is a very appealing one. Indeed, the whole concept of the Rapture is grounded on the idea that the Lord will spare a select few from the Tribulation just as an act of sovereign mercy. Time, however, is passing. Society shows no signs of improving character; in fact, it seems to be sliding down into ever greater depravity. The Lord has provided no indication that He is any nearer to the end of His patience or any closer to creating the New Jerusalem. So, let’s face facts. It’s extremely difficult to keep the faith over time when the Spirit is apparently not intending to take any affirmative action to protect and preserve His people. What are believers to do without the encouragement of obvious miraculous acts to sustain us over the long haul?

This is not an unreasonable question, but it begs a deeper question. When life becomes mired in the ordinary or the difficult, we need to examine the real basis of our faith. Over the years, I have noticed most people base their faith on one of two things. There are so-called believers who must be immersed in the mystical world of Godly manifestations and inspiration to sustain their faith, and there are those for whom faith is simply the prerequisite for spiritual growth. While the former certainly boast of great revelation and intense inspiration initially, over time, their enthusiasm eventually dies, and they often end up worse than before their conversion. Their faith is simply a response to recognized grace which tends to fail when they are forced to confront the harsher, continued realities of life sans the Spirit’s obvious leading. Their “what-have-you-done-for-me-lately” attitude provides little stability and even less depth. As soon as they realize they cannot legitimately claim to summon Jesus to their side as one might call a genie, they feel betrayed and let down. It’s hard to see the character in this kind of results-oriented faith.

On the other hand, happier by far seem to be those for whom a decision to believe is a habitual first response. Their faith comes before evidence, and probably because of that different perspective, they are better positioned to recognized the touch of Christ when it is revealed, especially in unanticipated ways. They believe not so much because of what Jesus has done for them in the way of daily manifestations or contact, but simply because of who Jesus is.

Faith as first response is a spiritual gift, but it is also one that can be learned over time and with patience. We begin by claiming God’s unconditional love, regardless of whether we feel lovable or not. We move from that security to expecting He will make all things work to good for us, whether we realize it or not. We then develop that expectancy into a habit, until we find ourselves relying instinctively on His ability and willingness to catch us when we fall and to redeem our failures. Soon, we begin realizing our faith has grown from an intentional, sporadic decision to a consistent lifestyle of gratitude and sufficiency.

Claiming. Expecting. Relying. Realizing. These four words make up the mystery of faith. Some get it; some don’t. Therefore, it’s no good simply dismissing those with limited spiritual perspective as having a lack of faith. In fact, it can be downright discouraging, and is certainly not the path traveled by Christ. Instead, we need to encourage our brothers and sisters to be more intentional and aggressive about placing their lives in the control of Christ with no expectation other than that He will gladly receive and use them for His purposes. Only that kind of motivation gives birth to real faith. And, on the other hand, only that motivation so clearly separates feel good religion and spirituality from true faith.