Great Is Your Faithfulnessಮಾದರಿ

Faithful to Respond to Faithful Obedience

On occasion throughout my childhood, my parents, brother, and I would take a summer vacation that had us on the road over a Sunday or two. Not known for missing many church services, my parents were diligent to bring along a few cassettes loaded with preaching and worship music that our family would take in while traveling in the car. One of our family’s favorites came from a series featuring the ministry of Dr. Dick Foth who, at the time, was serving as the president of then Bethany Bible College (Scotts Valley, CA). Dr. Foth's ability to tell a story grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let loose until he prayed his final prayer. The series of five or so messages was only a pile of cassettes bound together by a rubber band, but it became a requested staple for any road trips our family took after our first listen.

As this world continues rocking and reeling from the ramifications of sin and selfishness, I often find myself quoting Dr. Foth so often I wish I could just take credit for it.

“Faith is doing what you can do; not what you can’t.”

Throughout Scripture we see many instances of God’s mind-boggling miracles–times when He showed up, typically just in the nick of time, and made a way where there seemed to be no way. God spared Noah and his family, along with two of every creature, on a giant boat he built when the floods came to destroy the earth. With Moses out in front, God opened up the seas and made a dusty trail for the multitude of Israelites to cross over to the other side. David, a shepherd boy, saw God miraculously rescue His people once again by knocking down a giant with a stone, flung to the head.

The common denominator in all of these heroic accounts was God’s miraculous power coupled with small steps of faithful obedience from mere humans. It was God's faithful response to faith from His people.

God + Man’s Obedience + Man’s Faith in God = Miraculous Results & Provision

Right now it seems that nothing is steady. Regardless of which side of the political arena you sit on, there's unrest in our nation and around the world. But in the midst of it all we must be reminded that God is not taken aback right now. In fact, He has seen this coming from the beginning of time. He’s not wringing His hands, wondering how this is all gonna shake out. But He is looking to us to look to Him. He’s looking to us to make one step of faith and do our part.

This isn’t as uber-spiritual as it may sound. Sometimes it looks like finding something to occupy your mind out of doors instead of taking in one more episode of the latest news brief. Perhaps it looks like taking the part-time job to make ends meet until the economy stabilizes a bit. Today faith might include reaching out to the neighbor or co-worker you’ve been walking past for several months and starting a conversation that might lead to Christ.

What is the step of obedient faith God is looking for in your life? Faith is doing what you can do and letting God do His part. Fretting is doing nothing and resenting when God doesn’t take care of it all. But faith? Faith is picking up the wood and nails to start the boat God ordered or raising your rod over a sea with the enemy hot on your heels. Faith-filled obedience is picking up a few stones in the brook and flinging one of them at just the right time. Simple, steady obedience each day will, in time, foster the centuries of miraculous accounts that were only creative thoughts in the mind of those who desired to please God.

Dig a Little Deeper

How long has it been since God spoke a direct order to you, prompting you to obey in faith? Have you experienced that before? It doesn't have to be a mandate of dramatic proportions for you to encounter God's response to faithful obedience. After you've read the assigned Scriptures for today, pause and ask the Holy Spirit to speak. Write it down, on paper or in your phone. Set a reminder. Do what you can do today, friend. Not what you can’t.