The Importance of Faith

In review of 2 Chronicles 16:9a it says, “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

Bottom Line:

God is watching out, and will give strength to those who will faithfully obey him.

What this means to me:

The Lord is watching, he will provide strength to me if I faithfully obey him. Therefore, I must not be foolish and do things outside of faith and obedience to him.

The Bible indicates three things about the importance of faith:

1.God is looking for faithful people. God is physically, visibly, actively, taking the initiative to look for faithful people that he can bless. 2 Chronicles 16:9 reminds me, “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (NLT).

I’m learning that if I can make myself usable, God will. God is looking for faithful people that he can use.

2.Faithful people are hard to find. The Bible says in Proverbs 20:6, “Everyone talks about how faithful he is, but just try to find someone who really is!” (GNT) A lot of people talk the talk, but they don’t really trust God. They say they believe in God, but they don’t really trust him when it comes to their lives, finances, health, or job. So will I just talk the talk or will I walk the walk?

Psalm 53:2-3 says this: “God looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!” (NLT)

3.Faithfulness is the key to blessing and victory. 1 John 5:4-5 says, “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”

The Bible says in Proverbs 28:20, “A faithful man will have many blessings” (HCSB). So in order for me to have many blessings, I’m going to have to learn to practice faithfulness. I should also be aware that God will test my faithfulness in different ways. Key for me will be to let him grow me in this area so that I can be a man of faith?

What I need to remember is that God will put me in situations in which I have no control. When these happen, I just need to be faithful and obedient to what he asks me to do. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by many men in my congregation who demonstrate their faithfulness and integrity constantly. I just need to think of them and how they would handle the situation I am facing. I can even ask them for their opinion/guidance. Each of these men have a consistent beliefs and faith in God. They can recount many instances where they needed to just trust God and how he came through for them. In essence they have been able to exercise their faith muscles and as a result they have grown and found it much easier to trust God. I can use them as examples to follow in my own life, as Paul mentions in Philippians 4:9, “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”