The Hammer of Faith

The subject of faith has, for the last several weeks, been weighing on my mind. I've spoken about it in private conversation, I have preached sermons on the subject, and I find myself thinking about it quite frequently. The importance of faith cannot be overstated for the Christian experience, nor can it be adequately explained or expressed in human terms. Nevertheless, we must try to understand and exercise our faith. The question is, "How do I do that?"

Well, one way is to dream big. I know it sounds a bit cliché but I believe one of the reasons we accomplish so little is because we dream little. I'm all for being realistic, but I honestly feel that we need to have aspirations that are far beyond what we "think" we can possibly do. Recently in a sermon I recalled something my grandfather, himself a former pastor, used to say: "Shoot for the moon. If you hit the streetlight, at least you got off the ground." I really liked that growing up, and as an adult and pastor, I often referred myself to that old saying.

But I realized something: perhaps we are held back as individuals and in our churches because of that very reason: we are aiming at the moon, but we're perfectly content to hit the streetlight. We accept even the smallest success as sufficient success, and we stop there. Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that small successes are less valid. In fact some of the greatest accomplishments in life are small. But we should still not be afraid of big dreams. Yes, the moon is farther away than the streetlight, but the moon has a much better view. Perhaps if we'll just take a step or two to the side, we can avoid the streetlight and rise higher than we thought possible. The more we try, the more we accomplish, and the more we try and achieve the greater and stronger our faith becomes.

Another way to understand and exercise faith is to believe. You might be saying, "Isn't that what faith is: believing?" Yes, that's one way to put it. But the belief I'm talking about is a belief in the impossible. It's easy to believe your car is running once you turn the key in the ignition and the engine comes on. It's easy to believe in healing when you're not sick. It is up to us to believe even when it seems like it's an impossibility that what we're believing in will actually come to pass. The way we do this is to take the focus and trust off of ourselves and place that focus and trust on God. You see, we are frail, finite and prone to failure. When we focus on or trust in self we are bound to be let down. By turning our attention to God, who is omnipotent, infinite and unable to fail, we are able to increase our level of hope. All things are possible with God, even the impossible. And as Jesus said, "If you can believe, all things are possible for those who believe."

Understanding and increasing faith also requires an open ear and an open heart. We need to listen to the Lord as He bears witness to our spirit. If the Lord calls you to do something, it is not a call to failure but to succeed. We shy away from so many things, refuse to move for fear of failing, of letting ourselves or others down, or for fear of disappointing the Lord. But the only way the Lord is disappointed is if we refuse to try. When it comes to risking something for Christ, remember that IT IS NO RISK! He wants us to serve Him. He wants us to be strong, unafraid, and bold enough to move in faith toward wherever or whatever it is He's leading us. And remember that the Lord doesn't call for results; He calls for obedience. The results are in His hands. As Paul put it, one plants, another waters, but it is God who gives the increase. Life's greatest disappointments come when we look back and see what could have been. Since success in Jesus is limitless, we should focus not on what could have been, but on what still can be!

I can't help but think of Noah. Noah had his own life, his own plans, but then God showed up. The Lord shared with Noah what His plans were for destroying the earth, and His mechanism for preserving the human race: the ark. It was up to Noah to lay aside self, obey the call of God and start building the ark. In a similar way God also tells us His plans today. His plans include our obedience to His call, our service to His ministry; He calls us to be witnesses, to work, and to be faithful. When we obey His plans for us, we are like Noah: exercising our faith and growing stronger in Him.

Over the one hundred years it took Noah to build the ark, he no doubt had to deal with a great many problems, insults, and any number of other things. But with each swing of his hammer, his faith was made stronger and in the end his faith was justified. You see, God had promised to send the waters to consume the earth and everything in it. It was Noah's job to prepare the ark. And that, my friend, is the lesson: we need to be swinging the hammer of our faith as well.

Sometimes God must have the ark built before He can send the rain. This goes for the positive as well as the negative in life. On the positive side, it sometimes takes great preparation and effort before we're ready to experience the full flood of God's blessings. Yet through the work, in the process itself, we learn a great deal about the Lord as well as strengthening our faith every day. Once we're ready, the Lord can pour His blessings out upon us. And sometimes there are bad things that life throws at us. Through our faithfulness to obey and serve God, we are increasing our faith again. Only this time the strength of faith will enable us to endure, to find the silver lining of Christ's grace which enables us to victoriously make it through any and all of life's great challenges.

All of us are building some kind of ark. I'm sure Noah made extra sure that every crack was filled, every weak spot reinforced, so that no matter what kind of storm hit his ark he'd still stay afloat. That's what we must do. Pay attention to the Lord, allow Him to show you the weak places and cracks in your own life. Then, through prayer and faith, let Him help you fix those problems. In this way, you can weather the storms of life and reap the blessings of God at the same time. It might take a lifetime, but keep swinging that hammer of faith because in the end, you'll be glad you did.

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