The Faith Factor in Life – Part One
Read John 14: 1 – 7
Jesus gathered with the disciples in the upper room the night before His execution. The world of the disciples is about to go into eclipse at midday. Their world is about to fall apart. They were understandably distressed.
Jesus has always told His followers of the glory and the pain involved in following Him. Every believer must realize you can’t expect to eat the honey unless you are willing to take the stings.
In comforting His disciples that night He shared principles that can give us stability in our crisis.
Jesus’ time of sharing in the upper room on His last night had been repetitiously interrupted by Peter. Peter blurted out a question all of us who follow Christ want to ask at times: “Lord, where are you going?” (John 13: 36). In His answer Christ revealed the supernatural antihistamine for the sting of life. It is distress that can be doverted if we realize He is reliable. At our best we often aren’t. At His worst He always is.
Jesus said, “”…you believe in God, believe also in Me.” Jesus’ statement is actually a double-plus imperative: “Have faith in God, and in Me have faith.”
That is the point at which sin entered the world. Adam and Eve didn’t have enough faith to believe God’s Word. They wanted to do things their way.
Faith is merely confidence in God’s character.
Hear this: “Faith is the submission of our reasoning and worry to all that is revealed (in God’s Word).”
Faith does not ignore facts, it introduces facts, the facts of revelation.
Faith is not irrational; it is supernatural.
The Greek word for faith, “pistis,” comes from the word, “pisteuo,” meaning to obey. When you say you have faith in God you are saying I am willing to obey God.
The old western movie star, Dale Evans, observed: “I sought the pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow. It eluded me. By simple faith, I found it at the foot of the cross.”
Perhaps you have been looking for your “pot of gold” without success. All that the heart longs for can be found in Jesus.
When we look at things through our natural eyes they may well appear to be foreboding and frightening. When we look at them through the eyes of faith they are seen differently. Check your optics. What lens are you using?