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When it comes to exercising our ‘Faith in God’ for expectations and interventions, have we become like an injured person accepting a limp, accustomed to less than His best?
Have we lowered our expectations from an Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God to our human limitations? Let us raise our consciousness on this matter.
It is God who has instructed us to approach without limits when we come to Him. No limit on faith, hope, belief, trust, expectations, or anything in His Will!
But, sadly, we have been guilty of under-rating God. Because of this ungodly approach, we have placed limits on His ability to ‘do for us’. It was Jesus that reminded us in Matthew 9:29; “…according to your faith be it unto you”. This statement of truth places the responsibility directly on us. The great news is that He gave us this measure of faith and empowered us to carry out our responsibility of exercising that faith. We must put our faith to the test by actually carrying out the works that prove our faith. It’s not natural to walk by faith (things hoped for, evidence not seen) and not by sight (what we see, know, possess, control). Listen, anything concerning spiritual things in God is not natural, but we have been given the intellect and ability to make the decision to do it.
Luke 10:19 says, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and overall the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
This is a Selah moment. Can you imagine? “…over all the power of the enemy”.
Yet, we are accepting a limited expression of God’s deliverance power as normal.
How can we remain in a state of self-induced spiritual sleep when the infinite power of God, whom we have under-rated, is at our disposal? It is simply accessed by belief.
Faith, prayer, and belief are all part of the spiritual abilities given freely to all mankind.
Luke 8:50 declares, “But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.”
Mark 9:23 further expresses, “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
It is critical to be knowledgeable of the spiritual arsenal at our disposal. The enemy (spiritual and human) has both intentions and plans to end our spiritual and temporal rights, relationships, and inheritance. Our God and Savior have provided the ability for us to be victorious on both fronts. However, the critical step in achieving the victory is to get “self” out of the way. God is a respecter of our decisions; therefore, we can make the decision for God or against Him, and we simply have to live with the consequences of those decisions. Just as God has given us access through Christ to His infinite power, we also have the freedom of choice to do His will or our will. It was Jesus, while praying in Gethsemane, who was able to secure the victory on the cross when He submitted His will to that of the Father. We, too, must come to that place where our self-will is replaced with God’s will. At this point, all the battles will be His, and all the victories will be ours. We cannot under-rate this truth!
While all of this sounds sweet and rosy, there is the constant and very real struggle to give up our will. After all, it’s the seat of our own power, the ability to decide and speak and act accordingly. Our will is the most used and undeniable part of our being; it is our control centre, the place of absolute personal authority. Is God asking us to turn that over to Him? Why did He give it to us only to ask for its return? These and so much more are genuine questions to ponder.
Remember the struggle Jonah had in obeying the instruction to warn the people of Nineveh and realize that our acceptance or rejection of His will does not change God’s plans or intentions – it simply puts us at a loss. The wisdom of God is beyond our comprehension; our duty is to trust Him.
The strength of our relationship with God lies in our free choice to align with Him because our decision at that point is not only a testimony of our love for Him but is also a statement against the option of remaining with the enemy of our souls. When we freely enter a relationship with God, there is no doubt that it will be a long-lasting relationship built on trust, faith, and love. That is the reason why we are asked to give up our will for His.
I was a witness to a powerful testimony at an open-air service in St. Thomas. There, a lady testified that she was diagnosed with blocked arteries to her heart and needed surgery. On the night before the surgery, she prayed and asked her Heavenly Father to amaze the doctors by unblocking her arteries and not allowing them to operate. She also asked that the surgery appointment be used as confirmation of her requested miracle. The results were as asked for, and the medical team was stunned and amazed as the pre-operation monitors showed absolutely clear arteries! God had given her the victory, fought the battle, and she got the rewards. She did not under-rate God. This was a present-day account that the God of the Bible and the truths of His miraculous feats are still the same today.
Will we continue to under-rate Him individually, corporately, nationally?
