When it All Doesn't Make Sense
Faith often makes no sense in the human construct because we are limited by our senses and earthly perspective. Imagine building a vehicle for an event that has never taken place before; this was Noah’s commission, yet he persisted in faith. The world had never seen rain but for one hundred and twenty years, he built an ark, while hanging on to God’s word. From leaving his home to a place he had no idea of, to believing God for a son, to being willing to sacrifice Isaac, the promised son, Abraham proved his faith in God over and over again. The Bible even accounts it to him as righteousness. To trust God completely with no doubt is true worship.
Faith is not just being positive, it is believing and declaring what God says about every situation. It is seeing as God sees. God’s vision is limitless, fixed and totally unshaken by the times, seasons and circumstances. For God (and with God), nothing is impossible and when God speaks, He speaks in spite of all present circumstances. All through the Bible, God turned around impossible situations while asking His children to trust His goodness and walk with Him, and nobody who ever walked with God was disappointed.
From “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets” to replying Peter’s request, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water,” with a resounding “Come”. Jesus always taught his disciples to see beyond their circumstances and put their trust in God.
Many ask Jesus to take the wheel while they stay immobilized by fear, with no plans to move. God will not steer you in the right direction when you are not moving at all. God is the perfect gentleman, He never forces anyone. Move, launch out and walk on water, then allow God to do what He has said. The walk of faith is to live according to the revelation we have received, in the midst of the mysteries we cannot explain. The height of this revelation is found in the person of Jesus Christ. That is why Christianity is called “the faith”.
All too often we abandon or dilute the message we receive from God, thinking it too big or too impossible to achieve. When we think this way, however, we are shortchanged into being less and experiencing less than what God has in store for us. When we allow circumstances around us and limitations in our life downgrade what God has shown us, we lose.
Yes, it is easier to obey well laid out plans that can easily be understood, but with God, His ways seem like foolishness to man. They hardly ever make sense and that is why faith is necessary. The Bible says that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3 KJV), but all those blessings can only be received in the natural through faith. God, expressing the heart of faith, calls those things that be not as though they were (Romans 4:17 KJV). This means that faith does not deny the negative circumstances or hard facts, but instead, chooses to hold onto the supremacy of God’s truth, which is eternal, absolute and unfailing. Faith is a confidence in God, knowing that He never lies.
To obey only when we see that there will be a favorable outcome or when we understand completely is not obedience at all. Trust and obedience are two sides of the same coin. With God, you hardly ever see the whole staircase; He shows you the next step as you take each one but you must trust Him enough to take the step. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” — Hebrews 11:6 KJV.
Most times when God gives us an instruction that does not make sense, it is for our good, not for evil. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” — Jeremiah 29:11.
God is a good, good Father and in Him there is nothing else but good. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” — James 1:17 KJV. God is consistently good.
While obeying God, we may run into challenges, but they are not to discourage or destroy us but rather to build up our character, knowing that all things work together for our good. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.” — Romans 5:3–4 NLT.
Walking with God is the greatest adventure in the universe. It sometimes feels like a toddler being thrown in the air by his father. For a second, the child is delighted as he soars in the air and then scared as he comes freefalling down. The beauty of the exercise, however, is that his father always catches him and he knows this. Believers need to become more like this. We need to trust that we have a good Father, who loves us inexplicably, unfathomably, endlessly; and who is incapable of letting us fall or dropping us. So learn to let go and trust God.
