I recently saw a miracle. It came from God, of course, but it was activated by the faith of a godly leader. He felt led to believe God for something impossible and invited many of us to join Him in a massive faith step. Honestly, I thought there was no way. My faith was timid. The time came when the provision was needed, and it was not there in the time and way we anticipated.
But then, true to God’s ways, in perfect timing, God has provided and continues to provide far beyond what we could ever “ask or think.” There is absolutely no explanation for how and when this happened, but God. It’s a genuine, bonafide miracle.
THE RELIABILITY OF TRUSTING GOD
A man had a son who was tortured by a demon who was hurting his son physically. “He often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him,” the man said in desperation (Matthew 17:14).
Jesus called the boy to Himself, rebuked the demon and “he was cured at once.” And then, Jesus took the moment to give us all a lesson on the viability of faith.
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible to you. (Matthew 17:19-20)
God can do anything, of course. And there are many miraculous things He wants to do on this earth so the world can know and believe Him. Your salvation was the greatest of these, but just the beginning. He longs for us, like this demoniac’s father, to continually come to Him and say, “Father, what is your agenda here in this? What do you want to do right now and how do You want me to believe? Will you manifest Yourself so the world can see who you really are?” As He speaks to us through His Word and Spirit, He invites us to join Him, but it always calls for an actionable step of trust.
It's important to note that our faith is not to be based on mere presumptions or some trumped-up idea of what God wants. It is prayerfully and carefully hearing from God and believing Him. “Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). The things for which I believe must be squarely based upon what God has said and the faith He is initiating in my heart.
Is it possible to miss God in our faith? Absolutely. But, as one man said, “I would rather walk out on the water to Jesus and sink a bit rather than sit in the boat and never see God work!”
Year by year, God desires to mature our faith so we can pray bigger prayers that He initiates and believe Him for greater manifestations of His provision and power. In so doing, we fulfill our gospel purpose on this earth by giving the world a right opinion of God.
FAITH REALLY WORKS … BECAUSE GOD WORKS!
One of my mentors, Manley Beasley, would always ask me when he saw me, “What are you believing God for right now?” At first, I was intimidated and flustered by that question. But then, as I began to walk in maturing faith, I looked forward to this call to greater trust. For “without faith, it’s impossible to please God.”
God wants us to look to Him, hear from Him, and trust Him for all things, big things, continual things. In fact, every single moment and circumstance of our life is a call to faith. What you are facing right now—whatever it is—is about faith. God is trying to teach you to trust Him and use this moment to show you and those around you His reality. So … here’s your question:
What are you believing God for right now?
