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Learning to Live by Faith

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The last few months have been an emotionally bumpy ride for me. On my recently updated rollercoaster of life (now fifty percent faster with higher hills and loop-ier loops!), I found myself in several situations that have made me confront my understanding of living by faith. I thought I knew what it was, but like many concepts in life, you really don’t understand something until you’ve experienced it. Well, my experience is that I still have a lot to learn about living by faith. You see, our lives do not always match our beliefs. Let me explain: We may witness God’s amazing power and love and say that we believe in Him, but what do our actions say? When the world is falling down all around us, do we really trust Him? We may talk about having faith, but do we live by faith? Does it really matter? We believe, isn’t that enough? We’ve heard of the importance of faith. Yet, sometimes I think we forget how important it really is. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” This is pretty clear. The Greek presents the idea of impossibility based on our being powerless. In other words, without faith we are powerless to please God. I am emphasizing this because we have somehow come to the conclusion that we can easily please God with our own actions. We sing God a song and since we thought it was beautiful and well done, it must have pleased God. We give God our tithes and offerings and since it was not a meager amount and we were pretty cheerful when we gave it, it must have pleased God. We talk to God and read His word when we get a chance, volunteer at the church fairly often, and fulfill many other prescribed church “duties”—basically, we are good Christians—therefore we must please God. Yet, the verse is clear, we can do all of that but if we do not have faith we are not pleasing God. An earlier passage in Hebrews takes this idea up a notch. “But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:38). You see, according to the Bible, God’s people will not only believe—not only have faith—they will live by this faith (see also Habakkuk 2:4). We may be familiar with this concept, but unfortunately, we are not as familiar with how it looks in real life. Yes, faith must be active and will be revealed in what we do (James 2:17), but it is not mere actions, it is obedience. This passage showed us the alternative—not living by faith—and described it as “shrinking back.” It is talking about not starting or not continuing to do something due to fear. Thus, not doing something, or stopping something, that God asks of us because we are afraid is the opposite of living by faith. Which, again, leads to not pleasing God. What then is living by faith? This is how Paul described it in his life: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). To live by faith, Paul had to die—not a literal death, but a symbolic death—he no longer lived but Christ lived in him. Living by faith was him giving up control of his life. Jesus was making the decisions instead. In order to live by faith, he had to become completely dependent on Jesus. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that “we walk by faith, not by sight.” Walking by sight means living by human wisdom—trusting in human traditions, ideas, ingenuity, resources, etc. It is being dependent on human sufficiency; trusting only what we can see. It is believing that we must succeed on our own efforts. Walking by faith means living by Christ’s wisdom—fully relying on His grace, power, counsel, and promises. It is completely dependent on Christ’s sufficiency. It is understanding that we can only succeed with His help. Walking by faith requires obedience, even when you cannot see. Of course, when you walk by faith you will want to obey, because you trust that although you cannot see, God can. So, when God says start walking, you start walking. When God says stop, you stop. When God wants you to follow where He’s leading, you don’t question His wisdom, you obey. It does not guarantee us an easy life, it only guarantees that in the end we will be where God wants us to be. Living by faith is giving up the final say in your life; it is changing your dependence from you to God. This is what it means to live by faith: hold on to Jesus and let Him do the walking. As Paul said, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” We no longer attempt to live this life on our understanding and choices, but fully trusting in Jesus’ leading. We will become fully dependent on Jesus. We will depend on Him for correction and for direction. We will want to know and follow His will, even when we don’t understand it. I’m not suggesting this is an easy thing to do. This concept is against our nature. It may take time to fully trust God. So start with the little things; it will become easier to trust Him with the bigger things later. Then, we can learn to say, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).

A Lesson from a Rubik’s Cube

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About a year ago my son became interested in the Rubik’s Cube. After purchasing him one, he went straight to internet help sites to learn how to overcome the cube’s challenge. It took some time before he memorized its specific moves and was able to solve it with no help.

Interestingly, solving the challenge did not make him bored of it. Instead, he played with it daily, asking us to “mix it up” in different ways and naming a color he would begin with. Then, he wanted to see how quickly he could solve it—many times it would be under a minute. It wasn’t long until he made solving the cube look easy. Lately, he will even casually look away while solving it because he has become so comfortable with it. No matter how difficult we thought we’d made it, he’d soon have all the sides and colors solved. No matter how messed up it was, the Rubik’s Cube was no longer a challenge to him.

Then, one day, he began a campaign to encourage me to learn to solve it. After awhile of asking, I finally gave in (just this week) and began my quest to find the solution. I also studied the specific moves and learned its patterns. I’ll admit, it was a lot of fun trying to figure it out—I had wanted to solve it since I was a kid (of course, back then I could only ever solve one color). The first several times I found myself having to peek at a cheat-sheet in order to be successful. However, I was soon able to see the patterns, and even more, the solutions and was able to successfully solve it without any help! (My son got very excited when he watched me do it by myself.)

And then I noticed something my son had already learned: I wasn’t able to mix up the cube in any way that would make it unsolvable. No matter how messed up I made it it never looked more difficult. This dawned on me even more when I heard one of my son’s friends say, after thoroughly mixing up the colors, that there was no way it could be solved. I remembered thinking the same way not long before. Yet, as I watched my son quickly (way quicker than me!) solve it once again, I understood why he had such confidence with it—why my confidence was also growing: I knew its solution.

All of a sudden a thought came to me: this is similar to our struggles in life and God. Let me explain. We think things in our lives can get so messed up that there’s no solution (no cure, no forgiveness, etc), yet we only feel this way because we don’t know how to solve such situations. Yet life, no matter how “mixed up” we might make it, is just as easy for God to solve because He knows the solution. Just as Jesus told His disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Yes, our lives may become so mixed up we cannot see a way out, but we do not have to worry, Jesus knows the solution. He won’t panic or become worried that He won’t be able to solve our messy lives, because He has already conquered any problems we may face.

I believe that if we could see our situations from His point of view (able to see every pattern and every resolution), we would never think anything was impossible (for Him) and would never view any situation as unsolvable (to Him). Maybe this is why it is easier for us to have faith in Him in the situations He has already brought us through—because we’ve witnessed His hands solve the problem. Yet, if we will fully trust our jumbled lives in God’s powerful hands, no situation we ever face will be impossible or unsolvable!

Living on Purpose

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I have learned that just because we say we are something doesn’t mean we are. Just because we might say we are Christian, doesn’t make us a Christian. I used to think the proof of my Christianity was my membership at my church. But reality sets in: Does my life support my talk? Do my actions back up what I say I believe? Could anyone else, by looking at my life, be able to know that I am a follower of Jesus? I read a quote in college on the dorm bulletin board that said, “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would they have enough evidence to convict you?” Wow.

You see, our lives will prove what we truly believe. Sure we can go through motions. We can pretend to care and pretend to believe. But God does not want a production—He’s not asking for a Christian Talent Show. He doesn’t want us to show forced compassion; He wants us to truly love! He doesn’t want us to merely say that He is great; He wants us to actually trust Him. If it is not about going through the motions, then it is about living on purpose. It’s not about what you do, but why you do it.

My favorite example of such living is found in the the lives of three Old Testament Hebrew guys: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. (They received new names in Babylon that may sound more familiar: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.) They found themselves in a very bad situation. King Nebuchadnezzar had built a huge statue of gold and made a decree that when certain music played everyone would bow down to the image. It wasn’t long until his wise men noticed that not everyone was bowing down—three to be exact, and only three. There were consequences to disobedience: death. This was not an optional event, it was commanded. So these three stood even though they knew the consequences.

Resolve

Some may suggest that this was not smart. Why bring all this attention to themselves? They could have easily faked bowing. You know, when the music played they could bend down and tie their shoes! No one would know the difference. They weren’t really bowing but only made it look like they were. I wonder how many in the crowd that day actually did this? I wonder how many of us would have done it as well?

They were immediately brought before the king. (Daniel 3:13–15.) Basically, Nebuchadnezzar gave them another chance. He liked these guys. They had proven themselves earlier. However, this was the last chance they’d get. If they turned it down, into the furnace they’d go. His offer: Bow and everything would be fine; if they didn’t, they would hurt. Simple enough. But the young men did not even wait for the music before they replied. There was no reason to play the music, because they wouldn’t bow to anyone other than God. They weren’t afraid of the furnace either, because their God could rescue them from it (verses 16, 17). Do you believe in God like that? Of course, it’d easy to believe God could rescue you from a furnace when you’re not near a furnace. But would you still have the same faith if you could feel the heat from it? That’s not all though. I love what they say next: “But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:18).

This is what living on purpose is all about! It was not the motion, it was the reason. Their God was so great they wouldn’t bow to anything else, even if He didn’t save them. Those are not comfortable terms. We have the tendency to base our performance on His deliverance. Yes, our God can deliver us, but what if he doesn’t?

Nebuchadnezzar was impressed with their faith and let them go, right? Not quite. In fact, it says he was infuriated. He commanded his servants to heat the furnace seven times hotter! It became so hot that the soldiers who threw them in died from the heat and didn’t even go in themselves! Nebuchadnezzar tried hard to make an example of these men and their God, but ended up giving God a greater opportunity to reveal His power and grace! Nebuchadnezzar soon noticed more than three in the furnace—there were four! Who would have gone in there with them? And the new one looked different: like the son of God. Quickly he called them out and they didn’t even smell like smoke! Isn’t God amazing? This reinforces that God does, in fact, go through the greatest trials with us and He can, and often does, bring us through unharmed!

This is living on purpose. It isn’t a half-hearted conviction. It is not being one person at church and another outside. Otherwise, when trials hit we will not stand—and we will have our trials. We face choices every day. Not all trials will be a fiery furnace, but all can have an affect on our future.

We say we believe in God, but does our life show it? Are we just trying to look like Christians, or are we truly living for Christ? We cannot be fooled into believing that an outward presentation is enough. It’s all about what is inside, and what is in our heart is revealed in times of trial. It is the true you.

That’s why God wants us to be completely for Him or completely against Him—not this in between stuff. If you say you are God’s child, then live like it! Don’t pretend to follow Christ if you don’t really want to. It’s not mindless actions that He desires. But if you want to follow Christ, then go all in! Follow Him 100%. Do not be among those who have a “form of godliness, but deny its power.” Don’t pretend to be something you are not. Live for God… on purpose!

Armor of God: The Shield of Faith

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Jesus asks a very sobering question in Luke 18:8, “…when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Faith. It is a very complex concept. It is something Christians know they need, yet often find it difficult to lean on. It is something vital for spiritual life, yet is regularly defined in ways that greatly reduce its significance. Paul knew its importance though; it is included in the list of God’s Armor. Next on the list is the Shield of Faith (Ephesians 6:16). Since it does not strap on, it is part of the armor that could be forgotten. That’s why Paul reminds us, “In addition.” You are wearing the other pieces of armor, but don’t forget your shield.

The shield is very important. A soldier can move the shield in any direction to protect any area not already covered. This is also why we must make sure we do not pick up a counterfeit. Satan would like you to grab his Sunglasses of Blind Faith and run into battle. Follow every whim and idea blindly. With little effort, you will stumble right into one of his carefully placed snares. Man tries to offer something of more substance: the Button of Belief. Shaped like a shield, but not near as heavy, it is very fashionable—imagine what people will think of you when they can readily see what you believe. Of course, once you have chosen a good set of beliefs, you should stick with those beliefs—beliefs aren’t supposed to change. If they did change, how could we ever establish exclusive clubs among those having similar buttons? Be aware, though, since not much is required of belief, it won’t provide any protection.

Paul tells us that faith must be our shield. Only faith can protect us from, as Paul says, the flaming arrows (fiery darts) of Satan. However, there is a greater importance in having faith than just defending darts. In Hebrews 11:6, Paul says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Impossible. We simply cannot please God without faith. We may try to please Him with worship, tithe, attendance, even witnessing, but without faith it can’t be done. Notice though, the text does not say “without great faith it is impossible,” it just says without faith.

You see, there are different sizes of shields—because there are different sizes of soldiers. A soldier is only given a shield he/she can handle, but every soldier is given a shield. In the same way, each soldier in God’s Army is given faith. How much? Romans 12:3 says that God gives us each a measure. This is a vague term, isn’t it? How much is a measure? Just enough. That’s how much faith God gives: just enough. Always the right amount for victory.

We aren’t all given the same amount of faith, but we are all given enough faith. You may start out with a smaller amount than your fellow soldier sitting beside you at church, but that doesn’t make you less of a Christian. It’s not about the size of your faith, but the size of your God. Jesus said that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed we could move mountains (Matthew 17:20). Nothing is impossible, even with the tiniest amount of faith. Faith compared with a mustard seed isn’t simply small, though, but also like a seed it will grow (see Matthew 13:31, 32). It may begin as the smallest seed, but turns out to be the largest plant in the garden. Likewise, as we cultivate our faith it will grow. One way our faith is cultivated is through reading God’s word (Romans 10:17).

Then, it has to be used. As Paul said in Ephesians 6:16, the shield has to be taken. A shield cannot protect unless we pick it up and use it. James 2:17 says that “faith without works is dead.” It doesn’t matter if we think we have little faith, big faith, weak faith, or strong faith, we have to use the faith we are given or it will do us no good. If we have faith that Jesus will forgive our sins, then we will confess our sins. If we have faith that He is coming again, then we will live like He is coming.

This is the exciting part: as we use the faith God has given us it will grow, larger and larger, protecting more and more. Until we graduate into heavy infantry: Jesus said, “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). We will not only be able to do things He did, but greater things. Our faith in Christ can grow so large that the impossible will become reality. No wonder the Bible says we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength!

Limitations are only set when we don’t use our faith. It says in Matthew 13:58, that Jesus couldn’t do mighty things for the people of Nazareth because of their lack of faith. How many times have we missed out on Jesus’ mighty works because we were afraid to use our faith? We don’t fail because we don’t have faith, but because we won’t use it.

There’s only one cause for for unused faith: taking our eyes off Jesus (consider Peter walking on the water). No longer focusing on Him results in no longer trusting in Him, depending on Him, or surrendering to Him. If we want to stand firm in our faith, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. Paul says it best, “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith … Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12:2, 3). This is the solution to any faith issue: fix your eyes on Jesus!

Do you find it difficult to act in faith? Fix your eyes on Jesus.
Do you want to increase your faith? Fix your eyes on Jesus.

Whether you have little faith or great faith, fix your eyes on Jesus! Great and mighty things will happen with your eyes fixed on Jesus—He makes our faith complete. The battle will rage on, the winds will blow, the waves will crash around you, and the darts will continue to attack. When they do, keep your eyes on Jesus and you will have victory!