RISING FROM THE ASHES (part two)

God uses a special faith building program to help Christians connect with Him in their daily walk. This program has six phases, and they are called (1) dream, (2) decision, (3) delay, (4) difficulty, (5) dead ends and (6) deliverance. In past blogs we have talked about the first four phases, and in our last blog we began a discussion of the final two phases – dead ends and deliverance. We used Abraham as an example, and we talked about two things he did as he was waiting for deliverance from a dead-end he had encountered. Today we are going to talk about two more things he did.

The third thing Abraham did was face the facts with faith

Romans 4:19-20 says,

“And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb (he’s facing the facts). Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.” Romans 4:19-20

Abraham is almost 100 years old, and now God says he’s going to have the child He promised him 25 years earlier. But there’s a medical impossibility here. These people are well beyond child-bearing years – notwithstanding the fact that Sarah has always been barren. Abraham understood these facts, and he still didn’t waver in his faith. Let me tell you what faith is NOT. Faith is not denying reality. It’s not pretending we don’t have a problem. That’s not faith, that’s denial. Faith doesn’t say, “I’m not in pain” when I am. “I don’t hurt” when I do. It’s not saying ,”I’m happy” when I’m not. That’s not faith – that’s phoniness. God says “I want to work in your life according to FAITH.”

Faith is facing the facts without being discouraged by them. It’s being able to look at the problem and say, “Yes that’s a big problem, but I’m not discouraged by it, because I know God is greater than the problem.” There is a type of Christianity today that basically says “Deny all of your problems, and just make a positive confession”. It’s called “Name and claim it” theology. That kind of theology does not come from Jesus. It’s Pollyanna, and Pollyanna is not a very good theologian.

Faith is NOT denying reality. Faith is facing reality without being discouraged by it, because it knows that God can change any situation. The person of faith looks beyond circumstances. Hebrews 11:1 says,

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1

What we CAN see is the world, and the world is temporary and passing away. But what we CAN”T see is the Kingdom of God. If you only look at the world you’re going to be depressed. Talk radio, newspapers, magazines, television – they all say the same thing – there are problems everywhere. And if that’s all you look at, it’s going to pull you down. But if you look at what God can do, you’ll be encouraged. So it all depends where you put your focus.

The fourth thing that Abraham did was expect God to deliver him

If you are in a difficult situation right now, what are you expecting God to do? Some of you may not be expecting Him to do anything. But God always works according to His promises. When we believe His promises, and believe He will do what He says He will do, that’s called acting in faith. So how’s your faith? What are you expecting God to do?

Romans 4:20-21 says,

“Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.” Romans 4:20-21

Faith ultimately brings glory to God, and Abraham did that. I’m sure he told everybody about God’s promise, and how God was going to make good on it. So when God came through, everybody saw it happen. That’s having faith in God and glorifying God at the same time. So, when you’re at a dead-end, tell people about it. Tell them what you believe God will do. That’s acting in faith. And when people see God come through, God is glorified.

When Jesus was in Jerusalem, Mary and Martha sent word to Him from Bethany that their brother, Lazarus, was sick. They wanted Jesus to come and heal him. Bethany is about six miles away and yet it took Jesus three days to get there. By the time He arrived Lazarus had died. That must have seemed like a dead-end to Lazarus’ sisters. But Jesus said, “I didn’t come right away to heal him – I came after he died, so I could resurrect him.” Jesus tells the people to roll the stone away, and He shouts “Lazarus, come forth”. But before He did that, He prayed out loud and said, “Father, I thank you that you’ve already heard Me”. Jesus was acting in faith, and He was glorifying God. He was letting everybody know that God was about to perform a miracle. So when it happened, God was glorified.

Paul also understood the idea of glorifying God. Take a look at 2 Corinthians 1:9-10.

“We think you ought to know (that’s glorifying God – that’s making Him known), dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again(that’s faith). We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-11

The purpose of a dead-end is to build faith, so we can trust God. Why does God let things get so bad that they sometimes seem out of control? I think He wants us to understand our limitations. And I think He wants us to trust Him, instead of trusting in our own ingenuity and cleverness. When we trust God, He always delivers us. That’s phase six in God’s faith building program.

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” When you’re at a dead-end, Jesus can take that hopeless end and turn it into endless hope. Are you at a dead-end right now? I invite you to take that problem, that situation, whatever it is – and find a promise that pertains to it – and expect God to act.

And then tell everybody about it………………………

Contact:  bob@riverrecoverychurch.com