Faith 3: Decision
In the world, decision is very important in our day-to-day activities and this does not exclude this journey of faith. To continue to grow in faith, recurrently would one be making decisions just as it is applicable to all and sundry in the world.
Decision is defined as “a conclusion or judgment reached after consideration; the act of making up one's mind”.
Coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, being saved, is an act of making up one’s mind on what one would do about salvation, because it is not all who hears the message of the cross, message of salvation who would decide to be for Christ. That is why the author of the books says, many are called but few are chosen, in another book it is said that he comes to his own people, but they do not accept him however those who dare to accept him have been given power to be called the children of God.
“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Mat. 22:14)
“He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (Joh. 1:11-12)
As seen that faith means being persuaded, to be convinced that something is true, to firmly believe in something or someone that it is true or real, relying on God totally. After being convinced that something is true, one would have to make up his mind on what to do about that. It is in the books that though some people know that something is true, but they would yet look for means of maneuvering themselves out of the thing.
There was the story of young wealthy man who approached him asking of what other steps he needs to take to inherit the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ looked at him and loved him and told him the first steps he needs to take to inherit the Kingdom of God and he told the Lord that those first steps he had scale through those, he asks to know if there are other things left for him to do and Jesus told him the second phase which he unarguably has not been observing well, after hearing this, he left sorrowfully because he does not want to do that. He has not made up his mind in doing that which Jesus has instructed him to do.
“And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
“And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
“Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
“And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
“Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” (Mar. 10:17-21)
“But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” (Mat. 19:22)
This man having been shown the needful, but he has not made up his mind whether or nay to embrace what Jesus said unto him. Assuming Jesus told him that he should do something so that his wealth would increase I am sure he would not hesitate to decide on that, but because it involves him selling all he has so that he would have treasures in heaven he considered that difficult to do, he couldn’t decide about that, and left the venue without resolution.
Jesus would now talk about the young man’s disposition to what he said that, how hardly shall they who trust in riches enter kingdom of God.
“And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
“And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Mar. 10:23-25)
It would be difficult for those who placed their trusts and reliance on riches and wealth to enter God’s kingdom because they wouldn’t make up their minds on the things of God in time, they would be dillydallying, pussyfooting on whether or nay to go ahead with the Gospel or not. That is why it is hard for them to enter God’s Kingdom, their indecision because God wants those who would decide for him once and for all.
It is for indecision that Apostle John says, Jesus said, he would spue (or vomit) some out of him.
“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:16)
As this matter of decision, making up one’s mind on what one wants to do is important in the matter of accepting Jesus Christ so is it important in the matter of building and growing in faith. It is crucial because some of the promises which would be heard would be contrary to the norms, principles of humanity, and except one decides on what one heard, one would pussyfoot on the matter, and sometimes would not go for what is said.
Think about what happened to the children of Israel by the sea, they were terrified, but God told Prophet Moses that he should tell his people to march ahead.
“And the LORD said unto Moses, wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.” (Exo. 14:15)
Humanly speaking, one would think that which kind of word is this? “Go forward?” “Go forward to where?” “To be drown in the sea?” To the human mind, it does not make sense, since this does not make sense, humanly speaking one would not accept that. However, Prophet Moses as their leader makes up his mind after hearing what the Lord says and told his people, followers that they need to keep on moving.
We all know what happened afterwards because the sea parted, and the people of God passed on dry soil while the enemies were drown in the sea.
Another example that I will talk about here was what happened when Jesus and his disciples attended a wedding ceremony and the wine finished. When Jesus was contacted on the way out for them, what he told them that they should do was humanly speaking not sensible, but they have made up their mind that what he says, they would do and we see the outcome of it.
“Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
“And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
“When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
“And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
“This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.” (Joh. 2:7-11)
The entire pages of the book of the holy bible are replete with such commands that are hard to believe, but which must be believed, and decision taken on them.
As the God works then so is he working now, and if you and me shall be his follower, he would utter some words that are strong, hard and difficult for us to bear and believe, however, if we shall continue to be his servant we need to believe it and decide on it.
Faith 4: Impartation
Online dictionary defines impart as “to pass on; transmit; rubbing on”. We need to know that faith could also be imparted as knowledge is being imparted during teaching, and or when reading. The faith in the Lord Jesus could also be passed on to people by reading the word of God or when we are hearing the message of Christ.
An example of impartation of faith in the old testament could be seen in the life of Samson. Before he was given birth to the angel has told his parents what he must not do neither his parents. When he started growing, they kept on telling him what they have received for him from the angels even before his birth. He kept on following what he was being taught but he never knew that it was through the locks of his hair that God imparts his power unto him. When he erred and told his concubine what he ought nay to tell her, and the locks on his head were shaven off, he became empty vessel, power of God couldn’t be imparted unto him again and he suffered for it.
However, after sometimes, the locks of hair started growing again, and he started feeling the strength which has eluded him for long again, his strength was restored, because the power has been imparted unto him again.
“Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.” (Jdg. 16:22)
Through the seven locks of hair on his head, God imparted his power unto him.
I will want us to see some things about this impartation.
The Stages or Steps of Impartation
As we know that life is in phases and stages, so is this impartation of faith, it is in phases and stages. Some of the involved stages to this passing on of faith to us is what I will want us to see from the scriptures.
1. Foundation (Basics For Faith): Foundation means the nitty-gritties of something. Thus, it is the nitty-gritties of impartation that I shall want us to see here. The bible says if the nitty-gritties of something be pulled down, there is nothing that the righteous could even do.
“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psa. 11:3)
Foundation in the Hebrew word here is “שׁתה”, shâthâh (phonetical spelling is shaw-thaw') which means the basis, purpose. And the word for destroy here in Hebrew is “הרס”, hâras (phonetical spelling is haw-ras') which means pull down break, overthrow, pluck down, ruin throw down. While righteous in Hebrew word in this verse is said to be “צדּיק”, tsaddı̂yq, (being pronounced as tsad-deek') which means just, lawful. Therefore, this verse is saying that when the purpose for something be overthrown, the just wouldn’t be able to do much, if there is anything at all that the just could do.
The foundation of everything is important in life, this foundation should be well outlined, well spelt out and shouldn’t be allowed to be tampered with by anything.
The essentials of passing on faith are directly related to knowing the will of God on a situation. In knowing the essentials, there are several means to knowing the essentials that the Lord requires on a situation or condition but the sure one is through the word of God. We are not in the days of Abel and Cain where there is no written word. Today we have the written word of God for all and sundry all over the globe. Through this written word we can know the will of God on a situation, through the word of God, we could have the impartations of faith.
During the time of Joseph when there were no written words of God, he received impartation through revelations (most especially through dreams, audible voice). After he has been imparted on, we know that he would not veer off what he has received even though the devil made attempt to make sure that he veered off, but he didn’t.
In the same wise today, we could also receive impartation of faith through dreams and other revelations, but all those that would be received would be in agreement with the word of God for any revelation that is contrary to the word of God may not have originated from God and if we are his children, it is what originated from him that we should follow and do.
As someone who has been saved and who has Holy Ghost in him other means of impartation is through the inner witness which is being controlled by the Holy Ghost inside of us. Our inner witness would agree with us that what is said is true or false because the inner witness is under the control of the Holy Ghost which the Lord has blessed the believers with until the day of redemption.
2. Advancement - Double Strength to Faith: after having a well laid foundation for something, one wouldn’t allow for the foundation to be like that, one would have to make further progress on the laid foundation lest the foundation be pulled down. In this part of the world where people cherish building their own houses, unlike at other countries where their government build houses and they would be purchased by citizens, greater percentage of the citizens know what foundation means.
When the foundation of a building has been laid, other stones would be laid on the foundation so that the foundation over the time would not be destroyed, become homes of rodents and animals, thereby leading to destruction of the laid foundation. Other blocks laid on the foundation is an advancement, a progress on the foundation.
After laying the foundation for the impartation of faith, it wouldn’t stay at that it needs to be worked upon, it needs to progress, and the progress is what this point is talking about.
One of the advancements to the laid foundation of passing on of faith comes through testimonies. Testimonies come when someone has exercised his faith on a particular thing or similar situation. This makes God real to and before the person.
Jesus on his way to Galilee passed through Samaria and having been wearied with the traveling decided to rest at the well of Jacob while his disciples entered the city to get for their master and rabbi something to eat. After they left, arrived a woman to fetch water from the well of Jacob, this Samaritan woman must have been met by Jesus disciples on their way to the town. Jesus and this woman interacted and during their interaction she discovered who Jesus is and left for the town to give a testimony about the person he has met.
“The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
“Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (Joh. 4:28-29)
When one gives evidences of what one has passed through or experience and God has helped the person to scale through those hurdles, one is making advancement in the path of faith, the person is adding double strength to his faith.
Testimonies about the word of faith strengthen us, ensuring that we forge ahead, ignoring circumstances that we may be encountering on the path of faith.
The testimonies given by the apostles after Jesus deportation help them to forge ahead, it helps them to overcome other obstacles that were surfacing then.
3. Absolute Faith: Absolute is synonymous to complete. We cannot talk about something being completed without talking about how and sometimes when it becomes completed. The process of something becoming completed is like a staircase phenomenon, because it would be growing, it would be coming bit-by-bit, little by little.
Before a child has complete trust in his parents, the child would have been talking to his parents asking his parents something and those parents have never failed neither disappoint the child. It is after repeated “asking” and “talking” with the parents and discovering that they are meeting up with his needs that he would have complete trust in the parents that come what may his parents would be there for him.
Take the case of what happened to the three Hebrews in the Babylonian land as example. Those three Hebrews have tried Yahweh the only God on several occasions before they could decide to go against the decree of the king. The three Hebrews were not relying alone on what their fore-fathers have told them about Yahweh, they were not relying alone on what they have read from the books of their testimonies and laws, but having experienced God, having had personal contacts and dealings with their God, they decided that they would not obey the decree which the king have issued come what may.
Have we reasoned about this that the three Hebrews were not living in the same province, they were also leaders in different provinces, within the land of Babylon?
“Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.” (Dan. 2:49)
“There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” (Dan. 3:12)
King Nebuchadnezzar as the king and ruler, the most powerful ruler all over the world then couldn’t have made them to be governing a province because he had so many provinces under him, he would have set them over different provinces because that is the logical thing, the faithful ones, would be placed to be overseeing different provinces so that the kingdom continues to make progress and advancements.
“And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.” (Dan. 2:38)
Having been vouched for by Daniel before the King, and the King having followed Daniel’s advice and instructions in making them head over province would have made them rulers over different provinces under his dominion, rulership to allow for justice, fairness and equity among his people and above all to strengthen his kingdom.
It was after they have been situated at their different provinces that the King made the decree to be circulated all over his kingdom that everyone should bow to his graven image.
When the news got to them at their different positions, they decided independently that they would never bow to the image of the king. They could individually and independently decide because each of them has had personal interaction with Yahweh.
It was after they made their personal decision, and which was carried out that the people brought their news to the king of their flagrant disobedience to what the King has decreed.
When the King heard this he did not believe it could be true, thus he asked that they be brought to the palace from their positions of leaderships, from their provinces and he asked them why they had to disobey his order, that they should tell him that they made mistake and were ready to rectify the mistake by bowing to his image, his idol.
They did not do this, because they have been convinced over, they years past of what their God could do as such they were not ashamed to stand for him in the open, they were neither doubtful of what their God would do, nor hesitant of his power.
They knew it was not because their God was powerless that their country has been overtaken and handed over to King Nebuchadnezzar, they knew it was their sins that brought all that their country passed through unto them. Having ascertained within themselves that they were not part of those who have grieved the Lord, they stood for him.
Therefore, they told the King point blank that they know their God, they know that the King’s threat couldn’t do anything for them and that they would be delivered by their God, however, if their God doesn’t deliver them at that time, they let the King and others know that what he has done for them in the past wouldn’t allow them to change their disposition.
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
“But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” (Dan. 3:16-18)
This they could say because they have had personal encounter with that God, and their personal encounter have made them to have absolute faith in Yahweh.
Another person whose personal encounter with Yahweh made him to have absolute confidence in Yahweh was David. David when he was sent to visit his siblings at the battle front coincidentally got the place when Goliath the general of the army of the philistines was roaring like a lion against the people of God and he told all who cares to listen that he would defeat Goliath, because he has put God to test on several occasions and God has not failed him.
“And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.
“And Saul said to David, thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
“And David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
“And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
“Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
“David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.” (1 Sa. 17:23, 33-37)
Those people have absolute trust in their God because they have put God to tests before and he has not failed them.
I will like to say that absolute faith is a growing kind of faith. This kind of faith is different from the gift of faith being talked about in 1 Corinthians 12.
“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
“To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;” (1 Co. 12: 4 & 9)
I believe this kind of faith is the faith that apostle Paul was referring to in his first letter to the Corinthians in verse two of chapter thirteen.
“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” (1 Co. 13:2)
He says, “though I have all faith”, all faith here is a kind of growing faith. It is a faith that grows every time, a faith that grows daily. This kind of faith grows everyday because it is being put into action every day. It is put into use every day when we put the word of God into practice.
Jesus while talking about this kind of faith in his discourses with his disciples while on earth equates this kind of faith to a grain of mustard seed.
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Mat. 17:20)
When a grain of something is planted in the soil, considering that it falls on a good soil with all the necessary ingredients for its germination and growth it will become a big tree with time. This is a kind of growing faith. E-Sword bible says, Bp. Pearce while talking on this verse, says that it is “a thriving and increasing faith”.
Prophet Elijah in the bible became renown because of exercising this kind of growing faith. He must have been exercising this kind of faith in the hidden until the day of his manifestation in the palace as he declared unto the King that there shall be no rain neither dew in the land except when he talks about it again.
“And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” (1 Ki. 17:1)
I will like us to see some things about this man of God as relating to this growing faith.
1. Easier Said: we know in life that it is easier to say something than to do it. The Prophet said the word to the king because God has determined to punish the king because he was not doing the right thing. To punish him, he must punish the people of Samaria too. (verse 1)
2. Easy To Believe: In some instances too, it is easy to believe something. Therefore, after the prophet said what would become the lot of the land, he received word from the Lord to move out of where he was to a place that is close to river Jordan.
“Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
“And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” (1 Ki. 17:3-4)
Being led to go to a place where he could find water to drink, one could easily believe that, but the addition to the word, which is that he would be fed by ravens, shows that he has over time been in constant relationship with the Lord, and his faith has grown. I said this because assuming it is ordinary person or someone who is just growing in faith, the person would think what of if the birds did not come? What assurances has he that the ravens would come? There are no human assurances to that effect, but as for the water, he knows river Jordan that there is water there which could be drank from.
3. More Demand: the following directive is a bit harder than the ones given earlier and it was that he should go to the widow to be living on her.
“And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
“Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” (1 Ki. 17:8-9)
Women of old majority of them were full time housewives, taking care of their husbands and children. Now when they lose their husbands, more demand would be on them as to taking care of their children. They will depend on the properties left behind by their husbands but if the husband left nothing behind thus, the onus is on the woman on how to meet with the needs of her children. This was what the widow in second kings 4:1-7 passed through. Those women would depend on relatives, siblings, friends, for support.
It was this kind of woman that God leads Prophet Elijah to, to go and meet and started living on his source of income. This is a strong demand because he was not in the oblivion about the culture of their land, but despite this, he believed what was said unto him and he left for the place.
4. More Grace And Anointing: As this kind of faith grows it leads to more release of the anointing and grace.
“And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
“For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
“And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.” (1 Ki. 17 vs 13-15)
When the prophet got to the woman and asked him to give him water. The woman responded positively to this, she did not tell the man that she couldn’t offer him water to drink, she did not query him that where has he been in the country, that is he not aware that there has not been rain in the land for months? Her response to go and get the Prophet of God water to drink was a positive signal to the man of God, who seizes the opportunity to ask her for food.
The widow on hearing this considered that a bigger ask, what she may not be able to accomplish and she replied the man of God that what he asked for is bigger, though she loves accommodating people, she loves hospitality, but the bible does not say she should love outsiders more than herself, neither her son.
When she puts across this to the prophet, a special grace was released from God unto the man of God and he alleviated the fear of the woman, telling her not to be afraid because in her carrying out what he asked her to do would there be solutions to what has been bothering her heart.
“And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
“For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
“And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.” (1 Ki. 17 vs 13-15)
After assuaging her fears, he then spoke unto the woman’s containers. More grace and anointing were released for effectiveness.
As faith increases and develops, there would be increase in anointing and grace.
“And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.” (Act. 4:33)
Great anointing can only be associated with great grace as it is seen here with the disciples. As they continue to grow in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ after his resurrection and ascension, they were given great power and great grace.
5. Trials of Faith Increase: As this faith grows, the trials of faith increase. Using the mustard seed which Jesus used for his disciples to illustrate growing faith, all farmers know that a growing seed would have to do more work to be able to satisfy its body cells, because of the increase size which is associated with increase metabolism of the plant.
Having this picture at the back of our minds we shall see that when the faith of a believer is also growing, the person’s spiritual body mass would be increasing which indubitably means that he would require increase spiritual metabolism to be able to maintain that status. Such increase in spiritual metabolism comes through trials of faith.
The trials such a one is experiencing before are lesser trials, but since he has been advancing in faith, there would be an increase in the level or degree of his trial.
Prophet Elijah while staying with the woman had to face another trial to prove his God before the woman. The trial he faced was the death of the woman’s son.
“And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.” (1 Ki. 17:17)
As could be seen from verse seventeen we see that the son has taken ill while the man of God was yet with them. While this son took ill, the man of God would possibly not stand idly by, folding his arms not doing something about the sickness. He probably would have prayed for the son on many occasions, because from the verse, it does not show that the son died immediately after he took ill. The sickness would have been a protracted one, it would have lasted for some days.
During those days, I trust that the man of God would have prayed with the woman for the child and at his own secret hours he would have lifted the son unto God’s hands for healing, but despite all that he did, there was no changes in the health status of the woman’s son. The sickness progressed until the son eventually gave up the ghost.
“And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
“And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
“And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
“And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
“And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
“And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.” (1 Ki. 17: 18-23)
The death of this woman’s son brought a serious blow to the woman and she contatcted the man of God to know why such could happen when he was yet with the family, it is not as if he has left the family and the demons struck but it happened under his nose, when he was still living with the family.
Don’t you think this is a serious trial of faith? The child that the man of God has been committing into the hands of God even before he died, yet the Lord allowed that to happen.
Instead of saying “Why?” or telling the woman that don’t you see that I have tried my best for the family? Don’t you see that I have ceaselessly been praying for the healing of your son among other things, he did not say that, what he says was “give me thy son”. He collected the son from her and took him to his private chamber to pray for the child.
He could pray for the child because he knows that what happened happen so that God’s glory could be made manifest.
“When Jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” (Joh. 11:4)
Sometimes we wonder why God would allow a small problem to degenerate further until it seems as if all has been lost before God rises to the occasion. God allows such problem to degenerate despite our prayers and fasting because he wants to glorify himself there. Again, God sometimes allow what we are passing through to go on without his seeming intervention because we are growing in faith and he wants our faith to grow the more, he wants to teach us some things which we do not know before, he wants to show us that since our faith is growing, there is increase spiritual metabolism, and what we need for it is trial of faith, thus he would allow such incident to happen, such that all our known proactive measures would fail as it happened in this case as well as in the case of Lazarus whose account was found in the book of john chapter 11.
Another example was the case of Job in the bible, he was proactive such that he prayed for his children but despite that God still allowed the devil to touch what he had including his children despite praying for them, because the sacrifices he offered then was a form of prayers unto God on behalf of their children.
“And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.” (Job 1:5)
When we continue to grow in faith, God would allow trial of faith along our path to sieve us, to know what we weigh in him, this he allows to show his almightiness and majesty on all situations and in our lives.
6. Growing Faith Reveals Our Identity: This kind of faith reveals who we really are in Jesus Christ. For as we continue to grow in him, our faith becomes a challenge to the unbelievers and believers alike and there by bring some people unto Jesus, while those who have known the Lord before, would be more established in faith as the case of this widow with Prophet Elijah.
“And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.” (1 Ki. 17:24)
The woman was Jewish and by extension a believer in Yahweh, but when her son died, her faith was threatened and shaken, but when her son was brought back to life by the prophet, she renewed her faith in Yahweh with her feet being established the more in him.
As we also continue to grow in the faith of the Lord Jesus, more of his grace would be passed on to us, which would enhance our feet’s establishment in him.
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