Faith in the Storm
Have you ever been reading in God’s word and felt so encouraged by what you read and knew that when the time came, your faith could withstand the storm? Then when the storm comes, you don’t necessarily handle it the way you wanted your faith to handle it. Your feelings get in the way of your faith. Life happens and you begin to question:
· Will God really lead me to the best job for me?
· Will H really provide for me and my family?
· Will God really fulfill His promises to me?
· Will God really bring healing and restoration in my life?
I want us to take a look at Genesis 15. God is speaking to Abram and says, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” (Genesis 15:1, NKJV) Even when God gives Abram a promise, Abram questions, “Lord, GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” (Genesis 15:2-3, NKJV) God then follows up with another promise. “And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the LORD and He accounted it to him for righteousness.(Genesis 15:4-6, NKJV)
I love verse 7 because God is reminding Abram what He has done for him. He says, “ I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” (Genesis 15:7, NKJV) When our faith begins to falter, I want us to take some things into consideration. 1. Is God good? 2. Is God good to you? Take this time to reflect back on all the ways He has shown up for you. If He has come through for you once, don’t you think that He would do it again? Scripture tells us that His love never fails.
By the end of chapter 15 God makes a covenant with Abram. He says, “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” (Genesis 15:13-16, NKJV)
In this passage of Scripture, his descendants are the Israelites that Moses leads out of Egypt. If Abram hadn’t believed and had faith in the Lord, would Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt? If Moses hadn’t believed and had faith in God, would he have been able to led the Israelites through the Red Sea? If Joshua hadn’t believed and had faith in God, would he have led the Israelites into the Promised Land?
Faith doesn’t make things easier, it makes all things possible.
· But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26, NKJV)
· But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6, NKJV)
· By faith Abraham (Abram) obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10, NKJV)
I want to remind us what God promised Abram at the beginning of chapter 15. This promise was not just for Abram, but for you and for me.
“I am your shield and your very great reward.”
God knows our hearts, and He is listening to our hearts. Something someone shared in a Bible study I attend said this (it encouraged me and I pray it encourages you also) “If I put my hand on my heart, I can feel Him (God) with me. Do not lose hope or faith. God is your shield and your very great reward!
©2023 Leslie Wittenmyer—All rights reserved