Believing is Seeing!
Hebrews 11:3, (NASB), “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
What challenges are you going through today, with your spouse, your children, work, the list goes on? None of us are exempt from challenges. God knew we needed a Savior. He knew we couldn’t do it on our own so He sent Jesus! Through Jesus, He has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness! I want to exhort you to BELIEVE GOD today! Expect Him to move! Expect Him to use YOU! Isn’t it amazing how many times God used the “least likely” to get the job done? E.g. Saul/Paul, Balaam’s donkey, lepers, me, you … Do you feel inadequate, least likely, and least qualified to be used by God? PERFECT, then get ready to be used!
God is looking for availability, and obedience; not talent or charisma. In 2 Kings 7, they were in desperate times, a famine even! Now Elisha had a word from God, that by tomorrow all things were going to change! The royal officer (a man of position with the King, a man with authority, and highly trained), could NOT believe anything would change overnight, and didn’t believe Elisha, the man of God. Now the 4 leprous men at the entrance of the gate were available and desperate! They were willing to go to the camp of the Arameans to get food for themselves even if it meant death. That was the step of faith that turned everything around (read the full story in 2 Kings 7)!
As BELIEVERS, when you are looking at the impossible:
A desperation for change arises!
You look beyond your own strength, to God’s supernatural ability!
You begin to open your spiritual ears and eyes!
You step out, trusting God will meet you THERE in your step of faith!
Your steps of obedience brings the breakthrough! (Unless God has specifically instructed you to do nothing.)
Declare confusion to the enemies camp!
Beware of a HARD HEART (Hebrews 3):
Heart of rebellion - Hebrews 3:8
Heart closed through the daily grind, “extreme famine” - Mark 16:14, 2 Kings 7:2 (The royal officer that refused to believe had a hard heart.)
Offended heart - Proverbs 18:19, 2 Kings 5:9-11 (Naaman didn’t want to dip in the Jordan.)
Expecting God to do it YOUR way … 2 Kings 5:9-11 (Naaman had his own idea of how deliverance should come.)
Hard heart leads to the doorway of deception.
God’s words in the Bible are meant to confound the wise. It seems backwards to BELIEVE without seeing first. But he wants us to walk by FAITH, and not by SIGHT, 2 Corinthians 5:7! Believing is seeing!
Action: Give it ALL to God! See yourself laying it down at the feet of Jesus. Many times you have to walk through a sequence or action in your head to actually leave whatever you are carrying behind! I once had carried a load of supplies from one end of the church to the other, fully planning to leave that “heavy arm load” there. But after doing a couple of things in that area, (not thinking) I picked that load up AGAIN and walked ALL the way back to where I started! I was accustomed to carrying the load! WOW! That’s when the Lord made this an unforgettable object lesson in my heart and mind! We get use to carrying things, instead of leaving them where they belong, in the hands or at the feet of JESUS! Ask the Lord what weight you have been carrying, that could be weighing you down, hindering you from believing and seeing. If you don’t hear anything, then GREAT!
Share this with someone else. But if immediately as you read this today, something was highlighted to you, it’s time to “let it GO.” You will be glad you did. Carry it in prayer, but not as a weight you should bear. His yolk is easy and His burden is light! Hallelujah!