Today, the mother of a dear friend died of cancer.
Many people prayed for several weeks for her full healing.
My friend requested it.
God’s answer was no.
There are various things that are said about faith in today’s Christian world.
Some speak of things such as declaring, decreeing, or prophesying in faith what one wants, with the irrevocable expectation that one will obtain what one asks for.
Today, I would like to share my personal perspective on what true faith is.
Before I get into the subject, I want you to know that I have complete sympathy for whatever situation you are going through.
And from the heart, I want God to grant you whatever you ask.
To talk about true faith, as usual, I’m going to share with you a Bible story from which we will draw that very important lesson.
This time, it is the story of Jonathan, son of Saul.
In the context of our history, the Philistines were camping against the Israelites and the people of Israel were so frightened that they abandoned Saul.
On that same occasion, Saul, wanting to keep the people with him, disobeyed God’s command to wait for Samuel to make the sacrifice.
Jonathan showed, in contrast, an attitude of faith different from that of his father.
His father had considered numbers to be the important thing in the battle he faced.
For this reason, he preferred to disobey God by trying to hold people back, instead of obeying God and trusting Him.
Yet Jonathan, knowing the power of God, dared to think that God could perform a miracle in the most adverse circumstances.
Something his father had forgotten.
The Bible history tells us that Jonathan decides to go alone, with his Squire, to the camp of the Philistines.
There were thousands of men possibly waiting to face him.
Read with me this part of the story:
“Then Jonathan said to his squire:
“You see, we are going to pass into the garrison of these uncircumcists, and I hope that the Lord will help us.
It is not difficult for him to overcome the enemy with many men or with few.”
And Jonathan said to him:
“Let’s come, so that these men can see us.
If when they see us they tell us to wait for them here, then we will stay and not go up.
But if they tell us to go where they are, let’s go; that will be the sign that the Lord has delivered them into our hands.”
1 Samuel 14:6, 8-10
This event in Jonathan’s story allows us to make some observations about what true faith is.
It should be noted that thanks to Jonathan’s faith, on that occasion God did the impossible, giving victory to Israel in that battle.
Place your faith in the power of God
The first point I want to make about Jonathan’s faith is that his faith was placed in the power of God.
Jonathan had no doubt that God had the power and ability to do the impossible.
This is the main element of true faith.
True faith is one that does not doubt God’s power to work in any circumstance, however impossible, or unlikely it may seem.
I don’t know what circumstance you are going through, but I would like to take this moment to tell you that God has all the power of the universe to help you in it.
You can trust Him to help in your need.
Have respect for God’s sovereignty
The second point I would like to make is that Jonathan had respect for God’s sovereignty.
This is something I think Christians today need to grow in maturity.
Jonathan’s faith did not lead him to think that God had to work the way he wanted, simply because he believed God could do it.
Jonathan showed reverence and maturity in considering that the fact that God could do it did not mean that God was going to do it.
It is for this reason that wisely, instead of launching himself madly into enemy territory, he decided to ask God for confirmation.
He did so by establishing that if the Philistines called him towards them in the distance, then God would perform the miracle.
On the contrary, if upon seeing them the Philistines told them to stop and wait for them there, they would back away knowing that God had not responded positively to their request.
It is my perspective that true faith is more than believing that God can do things.
This is the fundamental element of faith.
In addition to this, a mature faith requires sufficient humility to ask God according to His sovereignty and wisdom, rather than demanding that He respond according to ours.
In your times of difficulty or need, remember to ask God for everything you want or need.
Remember that He loves you and wants to help you and give you your best.
Still keep in mind that He knows what is better before you and that He sees what you don’t, so ask Him according to His perfect will.
I hope this message has been a blessing to your life.
And what do you think? Do you think this is true faith? Share it in the comments.
A hug, God bless you.
