Faith Foundations Week Three
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” -Hebrews 11:1-3 (NIV)
From the Hebrews hall of fame we’ve learned the foundations of faith:
We learned that Abel would have encouraged us in our faith to put God first.
We learned from Enoch that walking with God every day is foundational.
We learned from Noah that acting on God’s word is foundational to our faith. Faith without works is dead (James 2:26).
Now, we learn about Abraham, who, after waiting patiently, received what was promised.
God is much more interested in our character than our comfort. Sometimes we treat God like he is a genie in a bottle. As though he is in heaven, just waiting to give us what we want. Often, we miss out on what God has for us because we are too impatient.
The Bible says there is seed, time, and harvest as long as the earth remains. Abraham would say to someone today that it is foundational for us to learn how to wait on God. Abraham and Sarah waited on God for three decades before Isaac’s birth. Complaining causes us to circle. This is what happened with the children of Israel. Complaining caused them to go nowhere. Waiting is not wimping. We are to wait on the Lord and be of good courage. Waiting is also not lacking. Those who wait on the Lord shall inherit the earth. There is an inheritance for people who are faithful in matters of faith.
Some of us need to slow down and wait on the Lord. We often have not received the promise in our life because if we received it too soon, the very promise would be destructive to our lives. This is what occurred with the prodigal son—timing matters. We are to wait on the Lord because he waits for us. So, the least we can do is wait on him so he can be gracious to us. The foundation of faith is waiting on God.
Moses would tell us not to trust our feelings. Moses’ feelings got him in trouble. We trust our faith, not our feelings. We live by faith, not sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our feelings are made up of our flesh. Our feelings will lie to us and deceive us. Our faith should never change. No matter how long we have been living this life of faith, we must tune our ears to the Word of God. Our feelings will either silence what God is saying or confuse us as to what God is saying.
Finally, by faith, the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days. From Joshua we learn that the purest form of faith is thanksgiving. We must believe that God is, and he will be. God is omnipresent - all of him is everywhere. Just we can move physically closer to someone, we can also move spiritually closer to God. The bible teaches us that we can do this through thanksgiving (Psalm 100:4). God inhabits our praises and so as we worship him, we move spiritually closer to God.
