Once again, here I am in the dark thanks to the disco situation in my area. If you’re like me, there’s a timetable for running the generator 😄. In the dark, still I shine. In the words of the immortal Igwe Tupac, ammo shine when ammo shine 😄. Sage has finally completed the book series known as The Three Musketeers. If you’re a book lover like me, please take the time to download the E-books and submerge yourself in a story of gallantry and uncommon courage. All for one, one for all! What a rallying cry. Anyway, welcome to a new week of signs and wonders. How was last week? For this week, it was laid in my heart to write about Faithing till the end. Thanks to YouTube, I get to watch services in Australia and USA back to back and despite the distance between these two countries, the theme of both services dealt on faith. Faith is one topic that had always made me so excited ever since I was a little boy attending VBS. For someone like me that loves faith so much, you can be sure that Heb. 11 is also my favourite chapter. Recently, my homie puffy and I decided to read Hebrews and it occurred to me that Heb. 11 isn’t the only chapter in Hebrews that deals with faith. So you know that this is a spirikoko something, let’s dive into the bible, call me Michael Phelps lol.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 NKJV
"The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see" Hebrews 11:1 MSG
I love how the MSG translation described faith; it is a handle on what we can’t see. It is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. I don’t know about you but I would like to have a firm foundation under the things that make my life worth living. If you’ve ever been involved in the construction of a house, one thing the constructor does is to make sure that the house has a firm foundation. If you stay in areas like Lekki, Ajah etc. in Lagos Nigeria and you’re building a house, the cost of the foundation is enough to buy a piece of land in some places. Why? This is in order to ensure the house doesn’t sink. This reminds me of the house I grew up in as a child, somewhere in Surulere, Lagos. One fateful day, we got the news that the house was sinking. Imagine that? Why? The foundation wasn’t solid. Now that I think of the parable of the men that built their house, one on sand and the other on rock, it could be said that the rock Jesus was referring to in this parable was faith. We’ll get to that later. Now that we’ve settled on the definition of faith as provided by the bible, let us paint a picture that we can relate to ourselves. Imagine praying to God for one particular thing. Perhaps you want to buy a car.
At the beginning you pray to God, I need a car to ease the burden of transportation. As my Economics teacher once said, Nigeria is the only country in which a car is seen as an asset. So you pray to God for a car, quoting all the scriptures that talk about His blessing and how He has good thoughts in store for you. Would you believe me when I say the beginning is the easiest part? No? Don’t worry…let’s continue the journey. You’ll find your answer at the end.
Faithing
In Matt. 7:24-27, Jesus gave a parable about two men. One built his house on the rock and the other on sand. The storms of life came and guess whose house was left standing? The man who built his house on faith, the firm foundation! If you read the MSG translation of Matt. 7:24&25, it says: “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvement to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.” Remember that the Hebrews 11:1 MSG translation calls faith the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. Hmm…..rhema!!! Like Daddy (T.D.) Jakes once said, it is easy to have faith at the beginning and at the end but what of the middle? Let’s go back to our earlier illustration. Faithing says Lord I have prayed for a car and I will hold on to you regardless of the storms that blow and make me want to give up. In Ps. 5, David was praying to God and he said something very remarkable in Ps. 5:3 (NKJV):
"My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up"
He could have ended it with "I will direct it to you" but he didn’t. He chose to let God know that he will be expectant and that is what faithing is. Letting God know that though the storms may come, you are still expectant; remember the MSG version of Heb. 11:1? That is it right there!
We are expected to have faith from the beginning of the prayer to the end. I remember when I was believing God for a car a few years ago (trust me I chose this illustration without remembering I had experienced it), everyday I’d wake up and go online to browse for cars and check out specs. I even went to the dealership to check out the cars, took my NOM (mum) along to check some out. Little did they know that I didn’t even have the money but I held out in faith. Did storms blow? Of course! I remember doing all the permutations and calculations as to how I would arrive at the exact money needed to buy the car; little did I know that the storm of FOREX was on its way and trust me it blew hard! Suddenly all the cars I had been checking out jumped up by as much as 10% in some cases. That’s a lot when you’re scraping around for funds that aren’t even enough. Did it deter me? Naaa. I kept faithing and eventually after the storm of FOREX, my house was still standing. Throughout, I never once gave up and like David said: I will look up. Every day, I looked up to God expectantly, faithing my way till what I couldn’t see became what I saw and drove. Glory be to God!
Here are some practical keys to help you with faithing:
- Pray without ceasing, Luke 18:1. Imagine if Daniel had prayed once and stopped, Dan. 10:12-13.
- Wait expectantly, Ps. 5:3.
- Search His word for a promise He has made concerning you, Ps. 23, Jer. 29:11, Ps. 126:1-3, Ps. 118:15-16, Ps. 118:17 and Phil. 4:13 are some examples. Search for yours!
- When you find the word, write it down or bookmark it and meditate on it day and night.
- Praise Him continuously. When the storm blows, praise Him! When you feel weak, praise Him!
You can add as many more as you want to this list as you feel led to do.
The charge therefore is to get into the habit of faithing. Even when the storm does its best to discourage you, keep holding on in faith expectant of the end that is in sight. It is not enough to pray and forget about it. We are to pray and wait expectantly till the end (Ps. 5:3).
Sage
P.S. My culinary skills have stepped up yo! My pancakes and concoction rice are so on point lol.
Next week’s post will be titled: What fruit are you? Matt. 7:15-20.
It helps to read different versions of the bible as I’ve noticed that it helps my understanding or opens my eyes to new things. Glory be to God!
Photo Credit: https://lifehopeandtruth.com
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