SOUTH ASIA – This week I was reading in one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, Hebrews 11. I love reading this chapter because it reminds me of all the folks who stepped out in faith and did not know what was going to happen ? some were delivered and others were not ? but believing that God would keep His promises.
The beginning of faith is believing in God’s character ? that He is who He says He is! The next point of faith is believing in God’s promises ? that He will do what He says He will do! I have to?tell myself?these words quite often.
I’m reminded of my youngest son, Asher,* who has struggled with anxiety ever since he was born; he has wanted to spend every single minute with Mommy. Our organization has a nice annual meeting scheduled the end of each June. They provide good training opportunities and other classes to help equip us for the work. While we are in class, they hold a Vacation Bible School for the children, which means Asher has to be away from Mommy.
Well, that never goes over too well. Last year, he cried every single day. He was terribly upset, and I felt as if I traumatized him by making him go. The entire week was a disaster for him (praise God for some absolutely amazing teachers). So this year, I began praying early on, praying that the Lord would increase Asher’s faith and help him to step outside of the box, to relax, make friends and have some fun.
Day 1 came and we had a few tears and had to make some classroom adjustments to get Asher with a friend, and off he went (not willingly). Day 2, lots and lots and lots of tears; he decided he didn’t want to go and that was final (or so he thought in his little mind). I forced him to go and walked away as he cried for me. That was a total heartbreaker!
When he came in that evening, we had a long talk about faith. I asked him, “Asher, do you believe that God will take away your fear when you pray?”?He didn’t say anything; he only thought for a moment. I said, “Matthew 21:22 says, ‘If we believe, we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer.'” He said, “Really, Mommy?” So we prayed together. The next day, he woke up ready to go. We prayed together again and only had joy as he kissed me goodbye. He hopped on that big bus with his class and really enjoyed himself. The rest of the week was an absolute blessing, and he loved every single minute of it. Asher made some good friends and actually had fun!
My point to all of that is this: God expects us to have enough faith to believe that He will do what He says He will do! We must believe that God will fulfill His promises when we don’t see those promises yet ? that is faith. J. Oswald Sanders put it perfectly, “Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as present and the invisible as seen.”
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, and all the other prophets and saints had one very important thing in common ? faith! They believed and were faithful during very difficult times; and yet, we are the ones who have received the “better blessing.” They saw the blessings afar off (see John 8:56), but we enjoy them today through Jesus Christ. Remember, faith looks to the future, for that is where the greatest rewards are found. Besides all of these awesome examples of people who lived faith, my hero is my husband, Mabry.* He is an inspiration and an example always to us as to what faith looks like ? willing to go places no one else wants to go, willing to take chances that no one else wants to take because God told him to, believing the whole time that God will follow through with His promises.
Unbelief asks, “How can this be?”?Belief asks, “How shall this be?”
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” You may ask, “Well, how do I get this faith?” This faith grows as we listen to God’s Word and fellowship in worship and prayer.
So why is it so hard to step out in faith?
We have all the promises of the past, present and future in God’s Word. Faith is a necessity for all God’s people; so Lord, increase our faith and give us the strength to endure rather than escape what lies ahead.
Whatever it is that God has called you to, whatever giant that stands in front of you, take a leap of faith and allow God to work through you to overcome whatever it may be. Believe God, because He is faithful!
May you bless the Lord as you step out in faith.
*Name changed. Eva Dunlow is a Southern Baptist missionary serving with her family in South Asia.
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