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Faith That Stands on God’s Greatness

Faith can flourish even in the darkness when it stands on God’s greatness and glory.

God's greatness

For several posts we have been looking at five things that enabled Abraham to wait on God in the dark, based on Romans 4:18–21:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom. 4:18–21, NIV)

In this post we examine points 4 and 5.

4. How Abraham was strengthened in his faith

Fourth, Abraham could wait for the Lord because he “was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.” Abraham was strengthened in his faith by filling his mind with believing thoughts. He chose to believe what God called him to believe. But we cannot choose that in our own power; rather, we must cooperate with God’s grace. The verse says he “was strengthened,” which is a passive verb. Something outside of Abraham helped him believe, and that of course was God’s Spirit and promise. Still, the passive verb, “was strengthened,” does not mean it happened automatically without Abraham’s cooperation. We respond to God’s grace by deciding to believe his word. Abraham chose the life of faith. He did it deliberately. He was strengthened in his faith.

With this choice “he gave glory to God.” This too is how Abraham was able to wait on the Lord and maintain hope and faith. God always works in us to show his glory, and he calls us always to have the same purpose: “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). When God’s glory becomes our goal in believing the promise and waiting on him, we align ourselves with his purposes, and he helps us see as he sees, think as he thinks, feel as he feels. Instead of our struggling to move the hand of God, perhaps even feeling as though we are struggling against him because he does not seem to want to do what we want, we trust God’s ways because we love his glory. He is unsearchably great, has thoughts infinitely above our thoughts, and walks in ways inscrutable.

Our faith has its source, continuity, and purpose in God’s glory. Faith resembles a massive river whose fountainhead, length, and ocean destination is the glory of the Lord. A life of faith is from, through, and to his glory. He reveals his glory in our spirit, and we respond with faith. We worship God day by day, and as a result we know him more deeply, and faith increases. As faith increases, our sense of his reality, presence, and glory increases. Ultimately he rewards our faith by giving Isaac, and people, angels, and demons see how worthy God is of trust. A life like Abraham’s, tested by time, displaying God’s faithfulness, uniquely reveals divine glory.

5. Persuaded by God’s power

Abraham could wait for the Lord because he was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” God’s power is persuasive. There is no promise he cannot keep.

Is the test of waiting wearing on you, wearing you out, wearing you down? Meditate on God’s power, his power in creating the universe with its 100 billion galaxies, each one averaging some 100 billion stars, each star named by God. Meditate on God’s power in creating and controlling each molecular, atomic, and subatomic particle. Meditate on God’s power in judging Egypt and its idols with ten plagues, parting the Red Sea for Israel’s escape, and closing the Sea on cue to destroy Egypt’s army. Meditate on God’s power revealed atop Mount Sinai in a consuming fire and mighty voice, accompanied by trumpet blast, earthquakes, thunder, and lightning.

Meditate on God’s power working through Jesus to give sight to blind eyes, strength to lame legs, flesh to withered arms, hearing to deaf ears, life to dead bodies, hope to broken hearts, cleansing to lepers, beauty for ashes, joy for sorrow. Meditate on God’s power in raising Jesus from the grave and seating him at his right hand with all creation, people, angels, and demons under his feet. Meditate on the power of Jesus, who by his Word upholds all. When you are fully persuaded of God’s power, you will know he can do whatever he promises, and when you know that, you can wait patiently, because the passing of time is no threat.

But Abraham was not always so fully persuaded.

In next week’s post, we will see that even Abraham’s and Sarah’s faith faltered for a season, but then recovered.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Waiting on God, Grounded in Truth

We can wait on God when we are grounded in truth.

waiting on God, grounded in truth

In the previous post we began looking at five things that enabled Abraham to wait on God in the dark, based on Romans 4:18–21:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom. 4:18–21, NIV)

In this post we examine points 2 and 3.

2. Abraham faced reality

Romans 4 says about Abraham that “without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.”

Abraham was able to wait because he faced the facts about his current reality. He was not living in false denial, but rather was living by the truth, which is the only place of strength. He knew that in the natural he and Sarah were too old to conceive a child, but he faced that fact in a way that did not weaken his faith. He faced the facts without letting them change his understanding of God.

He knew the rules of the natural world do not have the final say. He was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” God created the world, and he upholds the rules of the natural world and can override them at will. The sovereign God can recreate as easily as he can create.

This too is the truth and therefore the only place of strength. Without strength that comes from the complete truth, you cannot wait on the Lord as long as necessary.

3. Abraham believed God’s promise

Abraham could wait because “he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God.” Abraham’s faith rested specifically on God’s promise, not only on general truths about his nature. God’s Word has unique, spiritual power to create and sustain hope and faith. “Faith comes from hearing” (Rom. 10:17). God’s promise is not just an idea, a string of words, a natural tool of communication. Rather his promises have a spiritual nature. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). The Holy Spirit uses God’s words to create hope and faith. His promises feed faith as food feeds the body.

But for that to happen we must not quench the Spirit’s work by responding to God’s promise with unbelief. In that case we would “waver through unbelief” and find it even harder to wait for the Lord. Abraham did not allow thoughts of unbelief to linger in his mind. He rejected such thoughts when they came.

In the next post we look at the final two lessons from Abraham about how to wait on God in the dark.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Confidently Waiting on God in the Dark

Waiting on God in the dark is possible when we know the truth about God.

waiting on God in the dark

In the previous post we learned from Joseph that we can wait a long, long time for God with seemingly nothing happening, and then God suddenly acts to fulfill his Word. In this post we learn from Abraham more about waiting on God in the dark.

Barrenness tests Abraham and Sarah

In Western culture we value the ability to make things happen. We say things like, “I’ll find a way or make a way.” “He’s a mover and shaker.” “They’ll run through brick walls if necessary.” “She stirs the pot.” “Manage by objectives.” “Just do it.”

But God often does not cooperate. In fact you can count on it that he will allow something in your life that no amount of will power and effort can change, something that requires you to wait on him.

Why

He does this because waiting develops spiritual muscle, in particular muscles of faith and hope, in which he delights. Scripture says, “Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Rom. 8:24–25, NIV). And, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for” (Heb. 11:1–2, NIV). Faith and hope thrive when we must wait.

The benefit of waiting does not end there. Scripture says, “The testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jam. 1:2–4, NIV). Situations that require steadfastness work like the barbells and machines of a fitness center to develop all aspects of godliness. So if we could fulfill every desire instantly, we would be spiritual weaklings.

The disappointment of barrenness

Abraham and Sarah could not fulfill their desire. They wanted a child but for about 50 years remained barren. By human standards they were a power couple: Abraham was wealthy, and Sarah beautiful. But no matter how much they yearned for a child, they could not conceive. In the culture of that time, children signified the favor of God, and barrenness brought shame. So Abraham and Sarah endured the daily frustration of unfulfilled desire.

When Abraham was 75 and Sarah 65, however, their prospects suddenly improved. God appeared to Abraham and promised, “I will make of you a great nation” (Gen. 12:2). Surely that meant they would soon conceive a child. But for the next 24 years they waited, without knowing how long the wait would last. Since God knows the future he could have told them how long their wait would last, but he did not because being in the dark intensified their test, requiring more trust.

The frustration of not knowing how long the wait will last

Not knowing how long a wait will last makes waiting much harder. When, for example, you wait on the phone to talk with a customer-service agent, patience comes easier when you are told approximately how long until an agent takes the call, even if that will be 45 minutes. But when you do not know what to expect, even a 5-minute wait is frustrating.

Scripture tells how Abraham was able to pass the test of waiting in the dark for almost 25 years:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom. 4:18–21, NIV)

This Scripture reveals five things about how Abraham was able to wait on God (we will note one principle now and four more in coming posts).

The decisive power of hope

First, he could wait because “against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.” He had hope, not despair. If you have hope, you can wait not only for 25 years, but for 250 years. If you despair, you cannot wait 25 minutes. Hope and despair have enormous power for good or harm. One or the other decides your future. Even though Abraham’s circumstances argued for despair, he had hope.

Hope drove his belief: “Abraham in hope believed.” We cannot believe in God’s promise when our hearts are governed by despair. Bring the candle of God’s promise into a room dark with despair, and despair blows out the flame. Light the candle again, and again despair blows out the flame. Light the candle of God’s promise as many times as you want, and despair will blow it out again and again. Despair cannot believe because despair does not want to believe. The despairing heart wants to believe untrue thoughts about God because it resents the circumstances God has allowed.

The hope that enabled Abraham to believe God’s promise came from somewhere. He was not hopeful because of a sunny personality. He was hopeful because he had true thoughts about God. Abraham was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” He did not bitterly lower his view of God and resentfully withdraw from him because of Sarah’s barrenness. Rather he chose to believe truth about God, and because he believed truth about him he was able to believe his promises.

Waiting on God in the dark by knowing God even in the dark

Anyone who believes the truth about God’s nature always has cause for hope. That is because, not only does God have power to do what he promises, he also has the grace and love to do wonderful things for those who believe him. The better you know God, the more you have hope; and the more you have hope, the more logical it is to believe even his most amazing promises. With hope and faith established in your heart, you can wait for God as long as necessary.

In the next post we will explore two more principles about successfully waiting on God in the dark.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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A Long Wait and God’s Sudden Action

God’s sudden action can surprise you.

God's sudden action

Last week’s post was about the frustration of waiting on God. This week we see in the life of Joseph that our waiting is not in vain.

The Word of the Lord tests Joseph

Psalm 105:19 says of Joseph, “Until what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him.”

“What he had said” refers to what Joseph told his family: his two prophetic dreams that foretold his rise to power in Egypt (see Genesis 37). Psalm 105:19 calls these dreams “the word of the LORD” because they were a prophetic revelation from God.

Joseph told the first dream to his eleven brothers: “Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf” (Genesis 37:7). His brothers interpreted the dream correctly: “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?”

Another dream

He told the second dream to his brothers and father: “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me” (v. 9). Jacob likewise interpreted the dream correctly: “Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” (v. 10)

Through these two dreams from God Joseph prophesied about the future, and as he waited for them to be fulfilled, the dreams tested him.

The dreams tested Joseph because of the stark contrast between what they foretold and what he experienced for 13 years. They said he would rule; meanwhile, his brothers sold him into slavery, and he lived first as a slave in Potiphar’s house and then as a prisoner in a dungeon after being falsely accused of rape.

Once he had his prophetic dreams at age 17 his situation turned for the worse—and then worse and worse. He suffered severe hardship and pain. He was in a low position. And he was far from the family members who the dreams said would bow before him.

Questions that burn like fire

What is going on? he must have thought. The dreams I thought were from God promised me a position of authority. They promised me honor from the brothers who hate me and even from my father and mother. How can that possibly happen now? They don’t even know where I am. I’m a slave in a foreign land.

Such thoughts tested his faith. They tested his confidence that he could interpret God’s communication. At times he did not know what to think. The stark contrast between the dreams and his situation, mixed with pain and disappointment, tested his beliefs like fire.

In fact the Hebrew word for “tested” in Psalm 105:19, tsaraph, is the word for refining metal in fire. Waiting for the word of the Lord to be fulfilled tested Joseph like a furnace refining gold.

A heart of gold

But Joseph passed this trial. He did not lose faith or turn against God in bitterness because life had not gone as hoped. When Potiphar’s wife tempted him to commit adultery, he said, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9). He feared the Lord, kept a good conscience, and would not sin against him. In all his work for Potiphar and then the ruler of the dungeon, he performed well (see Genesis 39 and 40). Joseph had a heart of gold.

God’s sudden action

As Joseph waited in Egypt, God did not reveal anything further to reassure him the dreams would be fulfilled. God did not give an annual dream saying, “Everything is okay, Joseph. Just hang in there, and eventually you will see my word prove true.” Joseph had his initial dreams, and that was it. The Lord’s silence did not mean the promises expired, nor did the 13-year string of woes. Joseph held those prophetic dreams. We know he did not forget them, for Psalm 105:19 says they continued to test him. All he could do was clutch them in faith and wait for God.

But when the test ended, Joseph’s life suddenly, dramatically changed. “God acts on behalf of those who wait for him,” Isaiah 64:4 says, and Joseph’s life shows how true that is. God acts. Joseph awoke one morning as a prisoner in a dungeon and went to bed that night as the second most powerful man in Egypt (see Genesis 40–41). As God says, “I am the LORD; in its time I will hasten it” (Isa. 60:22, italics added). The God who works as slowly as glaciers move, for whom a thousand years are like a day, can also act quickly. God acts.

The pattern

But he has a time for your train to pull into the station, and a wise reason for the schedule. He knows what the test of waiting—with its refining fires—must accomplish. As you read Scripture, he might cause certain words to come alive, breathing hope and faith into your spirit. He might fulfill those words one week later, and each day leading up to it he might reassure you the answer is coming. Or he might not fulfill those words for 50 years, and you might not receive another extraordinary reassurance that the promise still stands, but then the answer dawns as quickly as the morning sun.

God has a unique time and way for each person, but there is a pattern. There is longing and promise, hope and faith, waiting on God, and finally fulfillment. The test requires that you persevere with trust in whatever way he works in you.

More to learn from Abraham

Joseph and his great-grandfather Abraham had to wait on God following that pattern, but their paths also differed. Abraham has much more to teach us about waiting on God through frustrating, unfulfilled desire.

See you here next week to learn from Abraham’s life.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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The Frustration of Waiting on God

Waiting on God is frustrating but fruitful.

waiting on God

For years I commuted to work by train, and given that I live in Chicago several difficult trips will not be forgotten. During one blizzard I had to take a late-evening train. I parked my car at the station 10 minutes before the scheduled arrival. With the wind blowing hard, my walk from car to station was bitterly cold, so with relief I reached out my hand to the door of the station and pulled. The door was locked.

I walked over to a brick wall that broke the wind and huddled there shaking and counting the minutes. I was wearing a decent winter coat, but dress slacks and dress shoes. The arrival time came and went without a train, and my heart sank. What should I do? I could not wait in my car because the train could arrive and leave before I could run to catch it. Driving home in the blizzard would be hazardous and long. So I kept waiting, not knowing how long that wait might last. I was alone except for one couple on the other side of the building. The wind howled, the snow fell thickly, my hands and feet and face were numb.

Mixed news

After about 10 minutes an automated announcement came over the station’s loudspeakers, and what a relief it was to get information. The news, however, was mixed. The train was rolling but had been delayed by mechanical problems and would arrive in approximately twenty-five minutes. Twenty-five minutes sounded like forever, but at least I knew I was not waiting in vain.

I was now in survival mode. My nose was running, and I was out of tissue. I still did not want to chance waiting in my car because I was not sure I could trust the time given on the announcement. I walked up and down the stairs of the station to generate heat. I moaned. I wondered what homeless people do in times like these. I peered down the tracks again and again looking for a glow in the distance.

Hope

After about 30 minutes the automated voice began another announcement: “Attention Metra customers, a train will soon be arriving in your station.” Oh, thank you, Lord! Three more frigid minutes passed. Finally a growing light appeared in the west. The locomotive’s horn blared, and its warning bell clanged louder and louder as the train pushed through the accumulated snow and crept into the station. It stopped, the doors opened, and the conductor jumped out. I mounted the stairs and walked numbly into another world of light and warmth, where a few commuters were calmly reading their cell phones. I walked the aisle and found a seat, doing my best to act similarly calm, though I felt the raw emotion of someone just rescued. My wait was over. My train had come.

Many people are waiting for trains. They long for financial relief. Or they pray daily that God will give a spouse, child, or new job. Some hope finally to succeed in business or ministry. Others need healing. Some intercede for loved ones in trouble. What they have in common is the waiting, longing, hope, and need. How long until the Lord acts?

Waiting on God can feel pointless

One frustrating thing about waiting is, it seems pointless. We see every good reason for God to fulfill our desires immediately. Pain or hardship could end. Happiness could begin. Many could praise God as his glory is displayed. The Bible says many things to affirm such hopes, yet despite our efforts nothing happens. Why the wait?

This is a situation where at least part of the answer is that God is testing us. The trial has a pattern. It begins with our desire. Then the Lord awakens faith through his Word that he can fulfill that desire. Then he waits, and we must keep believing the promise, sometimes despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, perhaps for an unbearably long while. Then God acts. The test ends in joy, in gratitude to God, in a life transformed by the process. Indeed, the test is a defining experience.

A spiritual passage

The test of waiting is a spiritual passage. Although it feels as though little is happening, in reality huge spiritual things are getting done. We are crossing a long bridge to a wonderful place. We are moving into God’s highest purposes, which are always bigger than we imagine. We are in the process of promotion. Equally important, God is working through our wait for the good of others, and most important, he is working for his kingdom purposes. He is doing something much bigger than what you have in mind.

Two people in the Bible illustrate this trial and its rewards especially well: Joseph, the favorite son of the patriarch Jacob, and Abraham. Both lives teach principles that help us pass our own test of waiting on God.

We will resume next week in part 2 with a focus on Joseph’s experience in waiting on God and what we can learn from him for our own frustrating wait.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Newsletter for August 2022

On a walk recently I came upon an amazing church door you might appreciate.

Door on Our Lady of Pompeii church, corner of Lexington and Lytle, in Chicago

The Test of Waiting on God

Last week we completed the theme about strong faith and how to get it. See the final post for a linked list of the 20 Truths in the series.

Next week we begin a new theme about The Test of Waiting on God.

waiting on God in the dark

There is never a time in our Christian experience when we are not waiting on God for something. This series will encourage you to hang in there.

A new audio course

I just finished creating something I have never done before. It is a 25-part audio email course on How to Get Wisdom for Everything That Matters to You. You might recognize that subject as what I wrote about last year. I have turned it into an audio book, and I am the reader.

I will go public with the course on Monday, August 15, but as a subscriber to my emails you can get early access here.

The format of the course is to email subscribers every two days with a link to one audio chapter. You can conveniently listen on a podcast player or a browser page.

So if you did not read this content when it was posted or would like to cover it again, this is a format that will easily fit into your day, as you listen while doing other things. The average post lasts 5–10 minutes.

I have three favors to ask. First, could you read the signup page and complete the signup form, and then give me your feedback (email me at brian@craigbrianlarson.com)? If you have any problems with any part of the process, please let me know. This will be a great help to me as I do my best to make this a smooth and convenient experience for users both of this content as well as future creations.

Second, could you send the link to someone you know who needs to hear this material?

Third, if the material helps you, please email me with a testimonial of one to three sentences. Tell specifically how it benefitted you. I might use your testimonial in the signup page (if you approve of my doing so).

Reunion

Last month I attended a reunion of people who once worked for publisher Christianity Today International, which I did for 15 years, ending my employment in 2012. Around 50 people gathered in the western suburb of Warrenville, Illinois, for a delightful evening of catching up with friends and former colleagues.

I stand on front row, third from left. My wife, Nancy, stands second row to my left. Marshall Shelley, for whom I worked at Leadership Journal, stands first row, first on left.

Thank you for reading. I pray for my readers regularly that God will give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. There is no greater treasure!

Brian

Brian, Nancy, and granddaughter Evelyn
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Staying “in Faith”

Being “in faith” is a life-changing mindset and attitude.

in faith

On the windowsill of my office sit two flowerpots. In each is an orchid. One is almost completely dead, with three desiccated leaves, and one tiny, shriveled, yellow-green leaf sitting atop the stem. The other is alive, but only with four, long, drooping leaves, and a brown, stiff flower stem about 10-inches tall. Neither plant has had a flower in many months.

The plants are in this near-death condition because of my inattention. For years they would regularly put up a flower stem on which four to eight beautiful orchids would bloom and last for more than a month. We kept them in our living room window, where they received indirect sunlight. But then we moved them into my office, where there is much less light, and I watered them irregularly at best.

These orchids are a picture of what can happen to a Christian’s faith. Faith does not flourish without attention.

Firm in faith

Isaiah 7:9 says, “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all” (ESV).

We need to be “in faith.” Faith must be our mindset, our overall attitude. Anyone who knows us well should be able to describe us as persons who have a spirit of faith, a heart full of faith, just as Acts 6:5 describes Stephen as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit,” and Barnabas as “full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Acts 11:24).

But we will not get “in faith” by accident. We need to attend to two aspects of our heart.

Both general and specific

We need to water both general faith and specific faith.

Our overall spirit of faith consists in the firm belief we have in the truths developed in the previous posts of this series, in particular:

If you believe these truths as you believe the sun is hot, you will be “in faith.” Your heart and mind will have a faith culture where faith for specific promises of God will easily flourish. For this reason I regularly review and meditate on these truths.

If you doubt these fundamentals of faith, you will have a difficult time trying to believe any specific promise of God, such as his promises to provide for you (such as Philippians 4:19) and protect you (such as Psalm 121).

Specific faith

When I was in high school, several times a day my father would strap a sphygmomanometer to his arm and test his blood pressure. Keeping track of that was critical to his health.

Similarly we need to pay attention to our level of faith and do the work necessary to be generally in faith rather than generally in doubt, to believe rather than disbelieve.

For most people it is what it is. Like a flag on a pole, which behaves differently as the wind continually changes, their faith is at the whim of circumstances, input from reading and media, irregular devotional life and church attendance, emotions, and trials. Most Christians do not memorize or meditate on faith-building promises as a healthy person pays attention to exercise and diet. When doubt is their prevailing attitude, they are not self-aware and proactive to change it. They ignore it just as I have ignored my orchids for a long time (but no longer. When I finish this post, I will pitch my orchids).

Takeaway

Either faith or doubt will predominate in your heart. On any day, in any week, in any season of life, we will in general be a person of faith or of unbelief.

Being in faith means being aware of the faith level of one’s heart and taking whatever action is necessary to have faith in general toward God and his Word, and faith in specific for particular promises on which we are standing.

My father lived 82 years, more than 35 years beyond when I first saw him regularly checking his blood pressure. You can have strong faith as you pay attention to stay firmly “in faith.”

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Truth #20 – Faith Pleases and Glorifies God

Faith glorifies God because it shows he is trustworthy.

Faith glorifies God

Prayer and faith can be self-centered or God-centered. Self-centered faith is not wrong. The Bible is replete with stories of people who prayed that God would do things they needed and wanted, as in most of the psalms as well as the Gospel accounts of people coming to Jesus for healing and deliverance from demons. Jesus does not require people to explain and justify their motives in asking him for help.

But as we grow in the Lord, we become increasingly concerned about how our words and actions affect God. More and more we want to please him. We grow in a desire to glorify him by giving him praise and thanksgiving, by telling others about the great things he has done in our lives and in the world, and by offering our lives to him to use as a display of his manifold greatness.

My point in this post is, if pleasing and glorifying God matters to you, then you should be highly motivated to have great faith.

George Muller showed how faith glorifies God

This was the motivation of George Muller, the celebrated man of faith and prayer. He started an orphanage in England in the 1800s, and his main purpose was to show others they could completely depend on God for their needs, that he answers prayer and faith.

To prove that, he made it his policy not to announce the financial needs of the orphanage, even though the orphanage depended completely on donations to function. He only prayed about the needs. He kept a meticulous journal to publish the details of how God worked in remarkable ways to provide for the growing number of orphans living at the home. The account brings God glory and, I assume, great pleasure.

You can read abridged versions of Muller’s story and journal (which I recommend) or the full version. Search on The Autobiography of George Muller. I also liked the biography on Muller by Arthur Pierson.

Four reasons why faith glorifies God

Why does prayer and faith please and glorify God?

1.   Answers to prayer and faith display God’s power and sovereignty over the created world.

When Lazarus died and his body lay in the tomb, his sister Martha had enough faith to say to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” (John 11:21–22)

Martha had enough hope and faith to ask Jesus indirectly to raise her brother from the dead. Even so, when Jesus went to the tomb and told those present to remove the stone, she objected, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days” (John 11:39).

Notice Jesus’s important reply: “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (v. 40)

If we believe, we can see the glory of God in his sovereign power over our material world. And that is what Martha saw, as Jesus proceeded to raise Lazarus from the dead.

And this display of God’s power in Jesus affected many others. One chapter later in John, “The chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.” (John 12:10–11)

2.   Answers to prayer and faith show his Word is trustworthy.

Notice how Simeon overflows with praise when the Lord fulfills his promise to him that he would see the Christ before he died.

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation.’” (Luke 2:25–30)

Simeon connected the dots between God’s word and the answer given and praised God.

3.   Answers to prayer and faith display God’s salvation.

Notice in the following testimony Paul’s motivation to see God receive thanksgiving as a result of his deliverance.

“For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” (2 Corinthians 1:8–11)

Paul knew from experience that answered prayer leads to the thanksgiving that pleases God.

4.   When God does what is humanly impossible to do, he reveals his greatness.

The Lord shows his power in situations where man is weak.

Notice in the following psalm how the writer glorifies God rather than human power for taking Israel out of Egypt and establishing them in the Promised Land. And the result is that the writer boasts in the Lord and gives thanks to him.

“O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old: you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free; for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob! Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. (Psalm 44:1–8)

Takeaway

In the full scope of the Bible, the stories of people failing to pray and believe in God are stories of failure and sadness, while the accounts of people who prayed and believed result in joy, praise, and thanksgiving.

God is pleased and glorified when we lay before him in prayer our needs and desires. He is pleased and glorified when we trust him. And he is pleased and glorified to answer when he wants, how he wants, and according to his will.

And in the end, if God does not do as we wish, he is glorified as the one who has the right of the potter over his clay, working for a higher good than we could ever imagine.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Title: #19 – God Is Watching Over His Word to Perform It

In Jeremiah 1:12 we see the importance of God’s Word to God himself

God's Word

A few years ago I took a course on how to reach goals. One of the most important takeaways from the class was the necessity of keeping attention on goals.

That is nothing new, of course, but the stress that the instructor placed on it and the variety of ways suggested to do it made an impression on me. He taught that I should have in my schedule a weekly appointment to review my goals and my progress. I should also have a monthly, quarterly, and annual appointment. Furthermore, I should post goals in unmissable places like bathroom mirrors and kitchen cabinets.

I found that the course instructor is right. When you keep goals at the center of your attention, the likelihood of reaching them increases.

Jeremiah 1:12

This is a faint illustration in a fallible human way of what God does in a perfect way. God told his prophet Jeremiah, “I am watching over my word to perform it” (Jeremiah 1:12).

Humans have limited ability to perform most things and to keep many things in their attention. God, on the other hand, has infinite power to do anything he has decided to do, and he can maintain an infinite number of things in his attention. He does not need to put yellow sticky notes on the arms of the throne in heaven to remind himself what to do in your life.

God’s declaration in Jeremiah 1:12, “I am watching over my word to perform it,” tells us two things about God’s relationship with his own words.

1. How God feels about his words

God’s words are infinitely important to him. “You have exalted above all things your name and your word” (Psalm 138:2).

When a woman’s hair is important to her, it affects her conduct. She looks in the mirror often. She spends lots of money at the salon and time in the bathroom in the morning getting her hair just right. When a man’s wardrobe or muscles are important to him, it affects his conduct in similar ways. Whatever is most important to us dramatically affects how we spend our time, attention, money, and energy.

Jeremiah 1:12 shows us that God’s Words are of ultimate importance to him. Ultimate importance. Ultimate, maximum importance. We cannot conceive how important his words are to him because even the most conscientious and honest souls on earth cannot begin to respect their own words the way God respects his own.

That is because he is perfectly truthful and absolutely faithful. There are no stray words from God. No filler words. No throwaway words. And no unintended, accidental words or forgotten words. He cannot lie, cannot prevaricate, cannot deceive.

God comes to humanity with a breathtaking forthrightness and says it as it is, boldly, clearly. His every word is precisely chosen, like the words of a poet, only infinitely more so. God knows every sense of every word of every language in heaven and on earth. He speaks his words knowing past, present, and future, knowing everything about everyone and all that is.

If words had material weight, one of his words would tip the scales with more weight than all the matter in the universe. One sentence from God placed atop the earth would crush it to powder. “Is not my word…like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces,” said the Lord to Jeremiah (23:29).

2. What God does with his words

And with these words God makes promises, predicts the future, and creates what will be out of nothing.

Like a wise legislator working his purposes in the world through the crafting of good laws, God works through his righteous words.

As a good lawyer writing a fair contract, God says what he will do and what we can expect.

Like an athlete predicting a victory, God says what he will accomplish.

And like a blacksmith working through his hammer, God works through his all-powerful words.

According to Jeremiah 1:12 God performs his words. He executes his words in his time, in his way, according to his will. His words are his glory. His words display his name. They unfold his wondrous character and divine nature.

The Lord claims, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10–11)

God’s words perform, and God performs his words.

God’s attention on God’s Word

And these are the words in which you put your trust when you pray and believe. Are these words reliable? Are these words worthy of your trust? Can you depend on them?

Yes, he stands behind them infinitely more than the most highly principled business men or women stand behind their guarantee. You can take God’s Word, rightly understood and applied, to the bank.

“I am watching over my word to perform it” (Jeremiah 1:12).

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Truth #18 – God Is Gracious

What Moses learned on top of Mount Sinai about our prayers and God’s gracious heart

our prayers and God's gracious heart

Suppose you were not a tech-oriented person, and you needed help with your computer. Let’s say it has recently become extremely slow, and you have no idea why.

And suppose you have two tech-savvy friends. Peter has a computer science degree. He is a generous person who gives time to hanging out with others, thoughtful gifts at birthdays and holidays, and even money when people in his circles go through hard times.

Naomi, on the other hand, tends to be stingy with her time, wealth, and expertise. She too has a computer science degree and a good job with a tech company, but even with family and friends she gets annoyed when others ask her for free advice concerning technology.

Since you have a sluggish computer and lots of bills at the moment, the thought of calling the manufacturer and paying for support is your last option. Which friend will you call first? Peter or Naomi?

Hmmm. That is not a hard question, is it. You call the person who is happy to hear from you and wants to help, not the person who resents your question.

This situation illustrates why our faith gets stronger when we understand and deep-down believe that God is gracious.

Moses’s bold request

Scripture indeed teaches that God is gracious. In fact it is one of the first things God would tell you about himself if you met him for the first time and asked him to describe himself. I say that because of one important conversation Moses had with the Lord.

It happened on Mount Sinai shortly after God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone. God had already revealed more about himself to Moses than any person who had ever lived, but because God is the most interesting, loving, and wonderful person in the universe Moses wanted more.

So he came right out and asked for it. “Show me your glory,” Moses said.

God replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’” (Exodus 33:18–19, ESV)

What happened next is extremely important for those who want to be established in faith by being a person who accurately knows God. That is because God himself tells Moses precisely who he is and what he is like. In other words, this is not a public opinion survey about God’s nature. This is not you asking a good friend what she thinks God is like. This is not a pontificating pundit on a talk show. Rather this is God himself saying, This is who I am. Therefore this is what God wants us to know and rely on.

God’s self-description

Then, “The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious….’” (Exodus 34:5–6)

God’s self-description goes on for several more lines, but I want to stop and call your attention to the second quality he names. He says he is “gracious.”

To be gracious is to be like Peter, the tech-savvy friend in the opening illustration. To be gracious is to be generous with time, money, and affection. It is to be favorably disposed toward others. To be gracious is to welcome and invite others into your presence. A gracious person enjoys helping others and therefore is not annoyed when others entreat his assistance. He is warm and hospitable.

When God does not seem gracious

To think this way about God may be difficult because most of the Bible narrates his dealings with humans who are acting badly. When people sin, God, being perfectly good and just and righteous, responds in opposition and judgment. He abhors evil with a fury that no human except Jesus can fully comprehend. As a result, much of the Old Testament especially narrates God’s acting and speaking in ways that can make a reader think he is not gracious. But by no means is that always the case in the Old Testament, for it is filled with glorious displays of his gracious heart.

Likewise in the New Testament, where his gracious ways are easily seen in Jesus. Jesus said that he is just like the Father. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” Jesus told his disciples. Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” So if you think Jesus is gracious, then you can be sure that the Father is equally gracious.

When God finally recreates the heavens and the earth and removes all evil from humanity, then we will truly see how gracious God is, for there will be nothing to provoke him to wrath.

The gracious redeemer

But even now, even in this age of so much evil, God makes known his gracious heart, for “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).

It was the gracious heart of God that caused him to send his beloved Son to earth and become a man that he could die for our sins. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

To Moses God said he was gracious; to the world God showed he was gracious through the redemption that is in his beloved Son.

Our prayers and God’s gracious heart

What all this means to us who want to be established in faith is twofold.

1. Because God is gracious, he welcomes us into his presence to pray about every care and concern

He does not resent our entreaties; rather, he invites them.

1 Peter 5:6–7 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

2. Because God is gracious, his default disposition is to answer our prayers of faith

Jesus said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).

Hebrews 13:6 says, “We can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper….’”

Takeaway: Our faith, our prayers and God’s gracious heart

When you understand the generous favor of God’s gracious heart, you will pray with much greater faith.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)