You’ve heard them.  Maybe you’ve even quoted them.  You’ve probably placed faith in some and possibly even stepped out on faith because of one or more of them.  “They” are cliches, some of which have a measure of truth to them.  Therein lies the danger.

Half truths are more difficult to process and expose than out and out lies.  I’m fully convinced that God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable and eternal.  However, His will isn’t always done.  Sin is the proof of that.  It’s never God’s will for us to think, speak or act contrary to God’s character, purpose or plans.  Yet, people do.

Despite the cliches that say things like: “If God calls you to it, He will see you through it,” there are times when things happen contrary to God’s desires.  Oh, I don’t mean to offend you; I especially don’t mean to cause you to doubt God’s love, provisions or protection.  My goal is to cause you to be even more aware of God’s presence than ever before - only this time, full of real faith instead of naive bravado.

Hebrews 11 is often called the “Faith Chapter” because it begins with a definition of faith (“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”) and then proceeds to give concrete examples of those who lived by that definition.  We remember very well those whose faith caused them to live in victory- Abraham, Moses, David, etc.   We tend to forget there are plenty of examples in that chapter of those who suffered tremendously because of their faith.  Why?  What’s the difference between these?

Well, we’ve got to come to grips with the true purpose of faith to get to that answer.  God doesn’t give us faith so we can live in ease and comfort; although some will.  God doesn’t give us faith so we will never suffer loss, defeat or hardships; although some won’t.

The purpose of faith is to cause us to be able to know God and walk with Him.  You see, we are so tied to the natural realm, we cannot sense God, hear Him speak to us or understand His ways.  Faith is the only means possible for us to do that.

You see, we have the tendency to evaluate everything in terms of what we personally get from it.  Thus, we tend to believe whatever God does or asks us to do will always benefit us in the short-term, but that’s just not the case – read Hebrews 11:36-39.  What was their short-term gain?

I’m reminded of those who serve in our military, here.  Some are asked to put themselves in harm’s way for the good of the others; and, some of them pay the ultimate price for their service.  Well, we are all called to be “soldiers” of the cross – check out 2 Tim. 2:3-4.  We’re called to active service.  Some will be assigned very difficult tasks while others not so much so.  But the effect of all of us doing our part will result “in the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” (Eph. 4:16)

If we’re ever going to mature, we’ve got to get beyond our narcissistic training.  Christianity is not about us!  It’s about the Lord Jesus’ rightful place and our surrendering to Him in faith; it’s not about us getting what we want from God, but God finally getting what He wants from us – love, worship and obedience.  It’s truly All About Him!