The responsibility of faith

 

My pastor said a few things this week-end which were a real eye-opener for me and I thought it was nice expounding on them and sharing them with you. Quoting Isaiah 55:11 - GOD’s word does not return void to Him, but accomplishes what GOD has purposed and succeeds in the thing for which it was sent -, he explained on Friday that ensuring the materialization of the word is actually the responsibility of the one who has received it. We are used to believe that it is GOD’s job to make it happen; but in fact, GOD sends His word, a seed, and it is up to us to see to it that it bears the most and the best fruits possible. The word gives us a glimpse of what can be done; it makes us envision what we had never thought about; but once we have seen it, the ball is now in our court and our responsibility is now engaged. Indeed, contrary to popular –Christian- belief, if you have faith, then after praying for GOD’s favour during your exams, you study even harder. You don’t fold your hands waiting for GOD to do the entire job - a miracle. No, you put even more ardour in your revisions.

This reminded me of farmers. As they labour and sow, they have the harvest in mind. They see the huge sales and the investments that they will make with that money. It is thus because of their faith in what they see in their spirit that they toil and sweat. When you start a business, after praying and fasting for GOD to make it prosper, the living room does not become your new dwelling place; instead, you roll up your sleeves and get stuck in. Faith implies prayer; but the conviction that your prayer has been heard and answered must lead to action: work can begin.

Besides, the way he related faith and works is very interesting. When you read Mk 11:23, “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him,” you may think that if one truly has faith, they only say it once, with conviction, and that’s it. It is not always easy to know what to do between this verse and others passages, like the story of the widow and the wicked judge in Luke 18, which teach us to persevere. We tend to think that keeping on asking is tantamount to unbelief. However, if you really believe that Mark 11:23 is true, you will speak to the mountain UNTIL it shifts. Ceasing to speak shows that you no longer believe in the feasibility of what you were asking for and now doubt that it will ever work. So, instead of saying: “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, you now say: “LORD, if it is Your will, cause this mountain to move.”

We need to speak UNTIL the mountain obeys; speak UNTIL we see the result, the fruit of our words. This is why the psalmist said that the words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times (Ps 12:6). GOD’s Word goes through fire –the fire of testing- many times. The fact that you have prayed once or twice and nothing – apparently- happened doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work. Elijah sent his servant back seven times to look for the rain. Naaman had to wash himself seven times in the Jordan and the children of Israel had to walk around Jericho, a whole city, 6 + 7 times as well (1Ki 18:43, 2Ki 5, Jos 6)! In each case, GOD could have performed the miracle the first time, but He didn’t. He let them refine His Word in the furnace. As seven is the number of perfection, we can understand by these examples that, sometime, our prayers also need to be refined through the fire of perfection.

GOD has entrusted us with His Word –the Bible, the sermons, prophecies etc. - ; what are we doing with it? What are we doing to make sure it does not return void to HIM?

Have a wonderblessed week!