“Living By Faith” by Pastor Randy

I am currently reading through the Bible in a year, along with many others from my church, and every time I take on this challenge (around my 40th time cover to cover and my 3rd time going through w/ BFMC) I find myself looking in the mirror and finding new things to ask God to prune in me so that I can be one more like him.

In the book of Genesis there are numerous accounts of Abraham (the Father of faith) believing God’s promises but then trying to bring them about by his own means.

For example, we learn in Genesis 12:1-7 that…

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.” (NLT‬‬)

All seems good but then after a famine hit the land and they had to take a detour through Egypt he told his wife to tell people she was his sister so that they would not try to kill him to get to her. On the one hand he was trusting The Lord and on the other he was trying to make sure The Lord’s promise would come to fruition through deception because he obviously doubted that God would be able to protect him.

This backfired of course and not only were they found out but he put innocent people in jeopardy when Pharaoh took a liking to her and subsequently God sent plagues on Egypt.

Abraham apologized, justifying his actions because technically Sarah was his half sister, but he didn’t learn his lesson because in Genesis 20 he did the exact same thing—this time putting King Abimilech in harm’s way. and, in between these two incidents he believed The Lord that he would have a son but, rather than trust that it could be through his wife, he had a son with her servant Hagar which caused enmity between the two women he put Abraham and Hagar;s son Ishmael in danger.

I could go on but you get the picture. Abraham did indeed have faith but he also wavered in that faith and the result was placing his own limitations onto GoD and trying to take care of business on his own.

I can relate. I feel like I have definitely been on a faith journey since making the decision to follow Christ three decades ago, and even more so these past few years since starting Go Scatter Ministries, and I have absolutely taken my fair share steps of faith on the belief that God was calling me to do so but I have also found myself trying to “make sure” some of those things came to fruition by my own effort.

No, I didn’t tell people Sheryl was my sister or sleep with her servant, but there have been times along that way that I have tried to provide for myself when God had clearly said He would provide for me. I don’t mean in getting a part-time job but with a number of attempts to get “any” job focusing on pay vs purpose. Thankfully God helped me stay on the path and has blessed me because of it but only in spite of myself at times.

How about you? Do you find yourself trusting God initially but then trying to fulfill His promise to you in your own? I feel like Christians do this all the time when it comes to tithing, they believe that God can sustain them but then, rather than giving Him the first fruits of their labor, they give a little or give out of their leftovers—making sure to meet their own needs first.

The fact is that we all do this to an extent in one or more areas of our Christian walk but the key is to learn from it and then not repeat it like Abraham did. We serve a BIG GOD Who keeps His promises so let’s give Him the benefit of the doubt and live by faith.