Faith: A rest in the integrity of God

Having faith is not to wish that something good might happen. Neither is it a mere expectation that the good we desire is going to happen. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of what is not seen (Hebrews 11:1). It is the actuality of what we expect, before we ever see it manifest. Faith is the title deed, which shows that what was promised you has actually been delivered to you. It is also the victory – not the expectation of victory – that overcomes (1 John 5:4). The source of this kind of faith is knowing what God has said.

Thus has God  declared concerning the things He has said: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). This is the integrity of God: He keeps His Word. For it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18).  Even so, if we truly consider the Lord as true and integrous, then there will be a rest about us in our believing. Our faith will not be marked by the anxiety that may often be confused for faith, which makes us restless and edgy, wishing and hoping that somehow what we have believed may come to pass. Rather, our faith will be made evident by the peace and rest we have knowing that faithful is He who has promised and He will deliver on His promise (Hebrews 10:23; 1 Thessalonians 5:24). Our faith will be the rest we have in the integrity of God.

To assume anything either than what God has said is to reduce faith to a trial and error event. This leads to frustration and pain. Knowing what God has said may be the easiest: search the Scriptures and you will know. Even so, if God does not include a timeline, save yourself the frustration that comes from establishing your own timelines for the promises of God to be fulfilled. As the Scripture says, it takes faith and patience to inherit the promises of God (Hebrews 6:12) and “ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:38). True Bible faith teaches that when we pray we should believe that we have received it (Mark 11:24) for our faith is the evidence that we have what we have been promised (Hebrews 11:1). But the physical manifestation of our promise may not be instant. Faith works along with patience to ensure that we see what has already been granted us. Equally important, is being careful not to assume how God’s promises ought to be fulfilled. What God says, He will do. But we should save ourselves the disappointment of fixing in our minds how God will fulfill His word if He has not shown us exactly how He is going to do it. So we are admonished to take heed how we hear (Luke 8:18). Therefore, hear what God is saying, not what you think He is saying, and set your heart to believe exactly what He has said in His Word. God is bound by His Word, not what we think He said or ought to have said.

To have faith is not to believe blindly; it is to believe what God has said. It is not to believe in the dark, it is to believe in the light of God’s Word. God has bound Himself by His Word, and it is in His integrity that we have our rest knowing that He is faithful to keep each one of His words.

Kwadwo Omari
© 2016