Faith in action
Jacob
indicate (He.11:1). It is an assurance of things hoped for (NASB). It
has no power of its own, as some might conclude from the statement
that Jesus made, "Your faith has healed you" (Mt.9:22). If we had
faith and God was not there, our 'faith' can do nothing! God is the
One who heals us when He sees our faith. What did Jesus mean when He
said, "According to your faith be it done to you"? (Mt.9:29)? He was
just telling them that He was going to do for them what they trusted
Him for.
Isn't our faith in God a trust and confidence that we have in Him?
Those who have great faith in God can expect Him to do great things
for them, and obviously those who hardly trust Him cannot expect
anything from Him (Jas.1:6,7). But we must be clear that it is not our
faith that accomplishes anything but God who responds to our faith,
sometimes even beyond our asking or thinking (Eph.3:20). He is
sovereign. He is not bound to respond to us in any way that we choose.
But He responds in the fulness of His love for us and seeing what is
best for us according to His wisdom.
Many people who are not aware of this try to manipulate God by working
up faith for themselves, trying to show their faith by praising God,
verbalising what they hope to receive, getting other people to 'agree'
with them, planting some 'seed' sacrificially, etc. It is all a self-
effort to force God to do something for them. But ultimately it is
God's wisdom and love that prevail. We cannot twist His arms to get
our way.
But there is another interesting side to this. When God sees faith -
trust, confidence - in someone, sometimes He responds in ways that
might even appear to us as improper! When a simple person cries out to
God in a meeting where a false faith-healer is manipulating people, he
gets healed! This may be explained as God's sovereign response to
someone who sought Him, rather than as a miracle from the faith-
healer. In the same way, simple people who pray touching the TV
screen, holding 'anointed' handkerchiefs, etc., get what they are
seeking God for! Aren't these responses from God to His people who
seek Him, rather than an endorsement of such gimmicks? When the woman
in the crowd touched Jesus, was it His garment that healed her, or
God's power that responded to her simple faith (Mt.9:21)?
God's heart is so full of love for the people He has created that He
doesn't even wait till they fulfil certain 'norms' before He does good
to them. Of course He has a special relationship with those who are
born again and have beome His children. But that does not stop Him
from even answering the prayers of outsiders when they seek Him (Ac.
10:34,35). Aren't there many cases of people from other religions
praying to Jesus in their need and Jesus revealing Himself to them
even while they continued ignorantly worshipping other gods? God looks
at the heart, and faith is something that God looks for there.