Monday, June 4, 2007

Faith is Knowing That God Will

Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.
~ Ben Stein

You might recognize Ben Stein from numerous Visine commercials. Or perhaps you remember him as a teacher in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (“Anyone? Anyone?”) or his roles in a number of other movies. He is an economist by training, the author of a few books and a syndicated column. He is also a staunch pro-life advocate. But his chief goal is to be a good husband, father and son.

He is also a man of faith, and he understands something about the dynamic of faith that many religious people just don’t get. Faith is not about acknowledging the possibilities of what God can do. Many people understand that God can do the impossible. But faith, the Bible kind of faith, is believing not only what God can do, but what God will do.

Many Christians shrug and say, “Well, you never know what God is gonna do.” Apparently, they do not pay much attention when they read their Bibles, because if they did, they would indeed know what God is going to do, because He reveals His will many times concerning a variety of situations. The Word may not tell us precisely how or exactly when He is going to do certain things, but it does reveal that He is going to do them.

For example, concerning sickness and disease, God reveals that Jesus has already taken these things upon Himself, and that whoever comes to Him in faith will be healed (I’ve written a book about that called Healing Scriptures and Prayers). Concerning lack, He has revealed that He will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Concerning the many troubles that the righteous may experience, He has revealed that He will deliver us out of them all.

Faith is not only believing that God can, it is knowing that He will.

What is the level of your faith? It is good to believe that God can do these things for you, but it is a breakthrough when you know that God will do them for you. That is when mountains move.

4 comments:

  1. mbrak1:56 AM

    I disagree, to say that you will be healed whenever you come to God in faith is a little misleading. God will do what God wills to be. God works in an imperfect world with sickness and death that every person will endure, christian or not. We can only petition on what we want or believe to need and God will work his good and perfect will for the good of those that love him. If that means suffering and death for a christian, they must have faith to trust Gods calling and plan for thier life to further the gospel. Even Jesus asked that the task he had (death on the cross and our punishment) be taken from him if it be God's will. "...Yet not my will but your will be done" - Luke 22:42. The hard thing for christians is to findng Gods will in their life and trusting his call whether his will is to heal them to show his power/mercy or to call them home to paradise; "for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain" -
    Philippians 1:21. Don't put God in a box, don't look to him as a magical healer. Rather Seek Him and his will and look to him for comfort (Romans 8) and assurance (Romans 3:23) through the rough waters we are all sure to endure due to sin. That is how I veiw Faith, knowing God is ultimately in control and following his lead where He may lead; "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" - Mark 8:34

    ReplyDelete
  2. It does not place God in a box to take Him at His word. It does not honor God to pray "if" where He has already revealed His will. When God has given His word, we don't have to wonder what He's going to do -- He's going to keep His word.

    Prayers of consecration ("not my will but thine") are for when we are not sure what His will is. But where His will is revealed, we can simply pray in agreement, not if's, and's or but's.

    Believing God's healing promise is not looking to Him as a "magic healer." It is faith -- taking God at His Word. And it please Him. Indeed, the Bible tells us that "without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

    So I encourage people to find out what God has said, about healing, for instance, then believe what He said and pray in agreement with it. Then we can look for the will of God -- what He has said He will do -- to be done.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous1:27 AM

    I'm not questioning God's word but rather how you worded the entry. It is very difficult for a christian to know what God's will is. The way you wrote it gave the feeling that God will heal you whenever you feel it necessary. Paul, one of the greatest witnesses of Christ, didn't know what God's will was. He prayed three times for God to take his infirmites away but God said that His grace was sufficent for His power was made perfect in weakness. What a christian should pray for is the ability to deal with the path that God has given, even if that is not the path that you may want to have because the path of a christian is difficult and painful. We cannot fully understand what God's plan is and that is where our faith and the Holy Spirit takes hold and leads us how to pray and the path to persue. Job did not know why he was tormented yet he persued God, "though you slay me yet will I praise you." All of the apostles were persecuted for thier faith and Christian must be ready to accept the pain and torment of this world until they recieve thier eternal reward. God's ultimate goal is to save those that are lost and christian are the vessels to reach the lost, in whatever means necessary.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11:35 PM

    1. I believe absolutly that God can do anything that God wants to do without limit or qualification. 2. I believe in praying outrageous prayers and that it dishonours God when we fearfully pray in a conservative way (God can do immeasurably more than we can think or imagine). 3. I believe that God's word reveals God's will for this world and that ultimately his will is for all to come to faith in Christ and be saved from sin. 4. I also believe that this world is not our home, that we are strangers and pilgrims here on earth, and the fullness of God's promises will ever only be known in the life to come.

    The great danger of teaching that in faith we can be healed is the difficulty we have if we are not. Who is at fault ... God because he couldn't/wouldn't (who wants a God like that) ... or ourselves because our faith wasn't big/strong enough. They call them miracles for a reason, because they are so far beyond the normal as to be without natural explanation. I think if miracles ever became an everyday event they would cease to be "miracles".

    Having said that, please refer to points 1 through 4 above and pray something outrageous, and remember to let God be God :-)

    ReplyDelete