Freedom in Faith

“JUST DO IT!”
Nike?
Nope. Shia LaBeouf.
As much as it is a meme, the message is clear- believe in yourself, work hard and you can achieve your goals. Its great before studying or working out but it’s a concept that we can mistakenly define as ‘faith’.
Mark 2:1–5, is the story of Jesus and the paralytic man.
A group of friends, heard that Jesus was coming, and knew that he was healing people. So they took their paralytic friend and fought through the crowd carrying him on a stretcher, towards the house where Jesus was.
They dug out the roof, made of mud and straw, and lowered their friend down before Jesus. Then it says this,
“And when Jesus saw their (the friends) faith, he said to the paralytic, son your sins are forgiven. — Mark 2:5 (ESV)”
When you’re inviting people to church, praying or anything, no matter the outcome it is good faith to keep going and believe.
But that’s not a call to a Shia LaBeouf-faith of self-belief that if YOU believe enough something will happen.
What happens when the prayers aren’t answered? Is it because you didn’t believe enough? Maybe if the prayer was just a bit longer, a bit louder. How do I believe…more!
A Faith That Brings Freedom
Jesus was constantly calling people to seek God first (Matt 6:33), and in the metaphor of the mustard seed (Matt 17:14–20) reminds us that it’s not the size of faith that matters but the object.
God is loving (Rom:5:8), just (Psa 37:27–29), wise (Job 36:5), all-knowing (Isa:40:28) and so much more.
“Having faith” is not about the strength of your own belief but an increasing trust in how God is described in the Bible.
A.W. Tozer sums what this trust means when he wrote this,
“True faith rests upon the character of God and asks no further proof than the moral perfections of the One who cannot lie.”
When Jesus tells us that his “my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28–30)he saying we can rest, that our faith isn’t about effort but simply believing in him.
When we know this in our hearts we can pray and believe, fully knowing that no matter how they’re answered its in the hands of a God who is all-knowing, loving, wise and just.

