Faith Works

A town had not had rainfall for quite a while. The longest the present generation had witnessed. As the drought continued for what seemed an eternity, the local church felt it was time to get involved and called a prayer meeting to ask for rain. An eleven year-old girl sat in the front row in the prayer meeting hall. Her face was beaming with excitement and she quietly sat in her place. Next to her, poised and ready for use, was an umbrella. The beauty and innocence of the girl made the pastor smile as he realized the faith she possessed. No one else in the congregation had brought an umbrella. They had all come to pray for rain, but she had come expecting God to answer with the needed rain.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” (HCSB). Faith enables us to view with certainty and clarity that which we expect but have not seen. Faith is buying baby cloths because God has promised you children, faith is building an ark, expecting flood when there had been drought, just because God says so, faith is leaving your kinsmen to go to a land you do not know or have ever heard of because God said you should. Now that is faith.

We admire those who overcome hardship to achieve greatness or those make giant strides owing to their faith. They inspire us to rise above our own problems and gain victory over personal struggles. After hearing their stories we can feel that we too can win victory over the things that may stand in our way.

Salvation is all God’s idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough (have faith) to let Him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! It is impossible to please God without faith. Our belief in Him please Him. Without faith, nothing else we do can please God. Faith enables us to believe for our own salvation from sins penalty. Faith keeps our minds focused on eternity and helps motivate us to live for Christ in the here and now. 

Faith accomplishes great things. Each of us in our lifetime may face serious tests and challenges. We must hold to our faith. It can accomplish great things for us. Overcoming should appeal to us all. We all face obstacles, challenges and difficulties. Negative experiences, tragedies, hardships, - these things touch all our lives. When the difficulties come, the choice before us comes down to two responses – we can become discouraged, give up, and experience defeat or we can overcome.

Faith works when you place your Trust in Jesus Christ. It is impossible to please God apart from faith. Why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that, he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

If you have not yet placed your faith in Jesus Christ, do so now. Let Him become the Rock in the middle of the turbulent seat, which is life.

If you know Jesus personally, recognise how important it is to live by faith. When testing times come, trusting Him will be what gets you through the storms to the place of tranquillity.